Ridonculous Race: Stranger Shuffle
by Cards of the Future
Summary: After Ridonculous Race, Don was thrilled to learn that it was renewed for a new season, Ridonculous Race: Stranger Shuffle. The deal this time? None of the contestants know each other, and during each leg of the race, all of the teams will be shuffled into different teams making the game more dramatic than ever! Which two contestants will score the million bucks? SYOC closed!
1. The premise

Don stood in the Toronto airport, flashing a grin to the camera. Now that Ridonculous Race had ended, it had become a smash hit, rivaling Total Drama in popularity. Because of this, it had been renewed for a second season; one with an extremely interesting twist that would have it become a much different series than the past one.

As the cameras began to roll, he flashed a smile at the camera and began to speak, "Greetings, Ridonculous Race fans! I'm your gorgeous host, Don, and I'm here to announce the second season to your favorite racing reality show, Ridonculous Race: Stranger Shuffle!"

"Why is it called Stranger Shuffle?" Don asked, before deadpanning, "Well, let me explain it instead of you asking me, will you? Yeah. Thanks."

He then began to explain the twist this season had to offer, "This season, contestants will _not_ come in teams! Nor will they even know each other! No, 36 brand new contestants will all arrive, and at the beginning of each leg of the race, they will be shuffled into different teams at random! That's right! Sometimes your worst enemies will become your teammate for a leg of the race! This way, the drama will never stop!"

"So!" he grinned, "Sign up today and get ready for the race of your lives on... The Ridonculous Race: Stranger Shuffle!"

* * *

 **So, I've been enjoying Ridonculous Race so much that I decided to make a SYOC about it. Below are a few rules and information about this fic, before we get started:**

 **1\. The application form is on my profile. You can send it in through either review or private message.**

 **2\. You may have up to two characters. You don't HAVE to have two characters, but it would help this fic fill up faster and would give you a better chance at winning. However, if you DO send in two characters, please have them be the opposite gender from the other. Don't send in two guys or two girls. Send in a guy and a girl.**

 **3\. Your OCs do not know each other and have to have a different stereotype from each other. NONE of the characters this season know each other unlike Ridonculous Race in canon.**

 **4\. People who are active in following the fic will have their characters go further. So be sure to keep reading, especially since some questions will usually be at the end of each "episode" out of curiosity (even the chapter where the confirmed contestants are revealed)!**

 **5\. Have fun!**

 **Once again, the application form is on my profile, as well as my two ocs for this fic which will be used as examples (they'll also compete, but will _not_ win the competition and will probably be booted before the final 3). I can't wait to see everyone's characters! **


	2. Episode 0: The Cast, Revealed!

**We're finally here! It's the castlist! I've accepted thirty-three exceptional OCs, and have picked three characters from the original series to return as well, just like the canon Ridonculous Race did.**

 **I recommend reading all of the audition tapes in this chapter, because every chapter will have review questions out of curiosity. And three of this chapter's review questions will have to do with your own character and their views towards the other thirty-five cast members.**

 **The audition tapes will be in alphabetical order, so if you have a character that goes by a nickname and you don't see them where the nickname would be, keep looking. They're probably under their first name for the alphabetizing of the audition tapes.**

 **Without further adieu, let's get this show on the road!**

* * *

 **Episode 0: The Cast, Revealed!**

* * *

Don stood in a studio, grinning at the camera. The cast had been picked. And now, it was time to reveal all thirty-six contestants to the world.

"Hey, reality TV fans," the host greeted, "Today is the day we show off the thirty-six members of the cast to you guys! Excited? I know _I_ am."

He strolled across the stage, before explaining, "First thing's first. We have one returning contestant from last season, plus a contestant from Total Drama Island and a contestant from Total Drama Pahkitew Island! And they are…"

A drum roll began to roll, as Don paused to reveal the three names, "...Dwayne, Jr.! Justin! And Scarlett! They'll be competing on Ridonculous Race: Stranger Shuffle, alongside thirty-three brand new contestants!"

He cleared his throat before saying, "Now. It's time to look at the audition tapes for our new cast of contestants! Roll it, Phil!"

* * *

 **Alexandra "Lexi" Brandy Price**

 **The Flirty Punk.**

 **17 years old.**

 **Heterosexual.**

* * *

As the audition tape began, a girl standing at five foot, nine inches, waved at the camera. She had pale skin and bright green eyes, which were only outshined by her short and spiky bright pink hair. She was very toned and fairly muscular, as well as having quite a few piercings: a silver eyebrow ring in her right eyebrow, a silver stud in her left nostril, and in her belly button. It was also obvious that she was missing a front tooth. She was wearing a small white shirt that exposed her arms and stomach underneath a tight black leather vest, black skinny jeans, and black steel-toed work boots that covered up the cuffs of her jeans.

"Hello, my name is Lexi and I want to be part of the Ridonculous Race," she greeted the camera before crossing her arms, "I'm tough, determined, and for half a million dollars you can bet that I'll be motivated. Plus, if someone cheats me out of the contest, I can live out a personal fantasy of mine by punching a cheater in the face on national TV. That would be awesome."

She continued, naming off, "Plus, seeing new countries and meeting adorable men? What's not to love?" The camera then cut the amused punk off.

* * *

 **Ash Raven**

 **The Nature Lover**

 **17 Years Old**

 **Heterosexual**

* * *

As the audition tape began, the screen spun around rapidly, as its blurred contents slowly got into focus. A girl sat on a green couch, looking at the camera. She was slightly curvy and visibly muscular, which was especially apparent in her long legs bringing her to a whopping five foot, eleven inches. Her wavy, light-golden blonde hair reached down her back with a silver streak running through the hair's sidebang; the hair itself up in a high ponytail. She had striking grey eyes, helped by her long, dark eyelashes. Her ears were pierced twice, a tattoo of a leopard eye was on her left shoulder, and a few scars could be seen on her person.

"Hi, I'm Ash," she greeted the camera, keeping her tone guarded, "I was hoping that you would allow me to audition for the next season of your show."

Crossing her arms slightly, she continued, "I just turned seventeen a few days ago and was looking for a new thrill to do. I've watched Total Drama for years, and since Ridonculous Race is from the same producers, that's about the same. This year, I have finally worked up the courage to audition."

"I love to go outside and climb anything," she explained a little bit about herself, "Trees, mountains; you name it, I love to climb it. So, I hope you'll consider me for your show."

Ash waved at the camera as it turned off, ending her audition tape.

* * *

 **Blaine Whithers**

 **The Aspiring Photographer**

 **19 years old**

 **Bisexual.**

* * *

As the audition tape began, a guy with a camera in his hands stood in front of the video camera. He stood at five foot, six inches with an average body frame. He had peach-tinted skin and green eyes. His brown hair was spiked in the front with a blue streak in the front. Black framed glasses adorned his face, as he also wore a purple hoodie with a panda on it, black shorts, and black boots.

"Hey!" he exclaimed with a grin, "My name is Blaine. As you can see, I'm auditioning to be on Total Drama."

Moving his camera in his hands for a moment, he admitted, "Yeah, my dad and I could use the money. But still, I'd be a great addition to your show… hopefully."

Adjusting his glasses for a moment, he explained, "Y'see, I'm a photographer and I enjoy taking pictures. Just thought that I'd throw that in there. So, I really hope you choose me!" With that, the audition tape ended.

* * *

 **Brady Watterson**

 **The Cowardly Jerk**

 **17 years old.**

 **Heterosexual.**

* * *

The camera faded in from static to show a six foot, one inch tanned French teenager. He had jet-black straight hair, was slim, had brown eyes and freckles. He wore a red tartan shirt and black skinny jeans.

"Hey, what's up?" he asked the camera, "I'm Brady Watterson. I really need the money so I can pay back some loser who's suing me for cyberbullying and destroying his car."

He then went straight to business, saying, "I'm the guy you want on this because it's obvious that I will win it. I've never lost in my life. I just win because…"

He held up a finger, "One, I'm good looking, and two, I'm strong. So you better pick me if you know what's good for you. Brady out. Peace."

Static.

* * *

 **Brooke Laverne**

 **The Kind-Hearted Bookworm**

 **16 years old.**

 **Heterosexual.**

* * *

The camera faded in from static, showing a girl sitting on her bed with a smile, piles of books stacked to the side of her. Standing at five foot, six inches, she had light-toned skin and a slim, hourglass shaped figure. She wore her long brunette hair in a ponytail as lighter brown bangs could be seen in the front of her face, complimenting her icy blue eyes. She wore a dark-grey long-sleeved hoodie over a fitted navy-blue top, denim flare jeans, and sneakers.

"Hey, I'm Brooke Laverne," she began with a smile, getting right to the point, "I am auditioning because I figured that this would be a good way to see the world, meet new people, and perhaps even find that muse to help me write new stories." She quickly added, "I might like to read a lot, but I also like to write my own stories. Someday, I hope to have them published, but for now, this would be a way for me to get started."

"So, um, please pick me?" she finished, bashfully, as her cheeks flushed slightly and the camera went back to static.

* * *

 **Charlotte Katherina Jeanne**

 **The Enthusiastic Actress.**

 **15 years old.**

 **Heterosexual.**

* * *

An oddly dressed Chinese-Canadian girl stood in front of the camera in her costume. She stood at five foot, nine inches, and had a slim and elegant performer's body. Her eyes were bright and blue, while her hair was, large, frizzy, and somewhat fluffy. She was wearing a violet leotard under a pink unicorn style hoodie, light blue dolphin style leggings, pink flats, and fake pink cat ears.

"Salutations, Ridonculous Race!" she excitedly greeted, "I am a strong actor and performer who loves your series and would love to audition!"

The camera went to static for a moment, as the locale changed to a dance studio. Charlotte began to dance around, as Tchaikovsky's Pas de Deux played in the background. With grace and elegance, she seemed to be in a whole different world as she danced.

Once she was finished, she bowed, a gentle smile crossing her features. She then did a small happy dance before the camera faded to static once more.

* * *

 **Danielle Moon Mason**

 **The Wild Animal Child**

 **17 years old.**

 **Heterosexual.**

* * *

The camera faded in from static, showing a girl standing in a forest, a smile upon her face. She was fairly short, only standing at four foot, ten inches. Her skin took on a shade between pale and tan, and her eyes were violet, thanks to the contacts she used to see. Her short brown hair was shorter in the back than it was in the front. There was a visible scar on the bridge of her nose. She was wearing a white tank top under a grey-black sweater with a wolf paw print on one of the pockets, short jean shorts that met her mid-thighs, and black converse.

"Bonjour, crew and host of Ridonculous Race!" the British girl greeted with a shy smile, "My name is Danielle Moon Mason and it would be a great adventure and honor to be casted on your amazing show!"

"I'm very good and don't let my looks, or height, deceive you," she plead her case, "I'm very strong and capable of many things!"

Grabbing a wooden bow that was adorned with feathers and an arrow, she nocked the arrow into the bow and pulled back, before shooting the arrow at the target; hitting the bullseye. She gave a gleeful smile before facing the camera again.

"See!" Danielle exclaimed, "I really hope to meet new people and animals too! Precious dears, they are!" It was then that an orange cat jumped down from a tree and onto her shoulder, mewing.

"Same, Baby Paws; I hope I can be considered, because I'm ready!" she agreed with the animal, fist bumping the air before blushing shyly, "I hope I'm taken seriously." With that, she walked over and turned off the camera.

* * *

 **Davis Cataberry**

 **The One-Man Acapella Group**

 **20 years old.**

 **Homosexual.**

* * *

As the audition tape started, the viewers could just barely see an extremely tall Thai male (six foot, five inches to be exact) backing up from the camera after pressing record. His skin tone was tanned and his body type was skinny with some muscle. He had brown hair that was parted to the right and was long enough to give him a short ponytail. His eyes were brown with freckles underneath them. He was wearing a white button-up t-shirt with dark green suspenders over it, a red and white diagonal striped necktie, blue jean shorts, and black flipflops.

" _Helloooooo, Ridonculous Race Crew,"_ he sung before moving back into his speaking voice, "I am Davis, the Lord of Acapella."

To showcase this claim, Davis belted out a few notes before moving into beatboxing, accidentally getting some spit on the lens of the camera. Noticing this, he reached over and grabbed a napkin, wiping the camera off.

"I'm also nimble, smart, and willing to make an alliance when needed," he continued, "So if you agree with me that Total Drama needs talent, then look no further than me!" As he reached for the button to end the recording, he sang one last word, " _Gooodbyyyyye~"_

* * *

 **Ethan James Black**

 **The Prankster.**

 **18 years old.**

 **Bisexual.**

* * *

However, the video didn't start. Don held a hand to his earpiece and asked, "Huh? You ended up picking up this contestant from his antics? So you didn't get an audition video? Fine. I'll try to explain him, just bring a picture of him up."

It was then that a picture of Ethan flashed onto the screen. Standing at five foot, nine inches, he was a Hispanic-American teen with messy, wavy brown hair and hazelnut eyes. He was skinny with some marks of him being muscular to some extent. One thing else noticeable was a medium-sized scratch on his left cheek. In the picture he was wearing a white t-shirt with Captain America's shield on it, blue jeans, and black vans.

"This is Ethan," Don introduced the contestant, "A prankster at heart, who definitely should bring some drama to the show. Next? It's Helen Stone!"

* * *

 **Gertrude Codger**

 **The Thrill-Seeking Grandma.**

 **75 years old.**

 **Homosexual and happily married.**

* * *

An old, short African-American woman standing at about five foot, two, was sitting on a motorcycle. She was wearing a motocross uniform and a white helmet. She gave a peace sign to the camera, before revving her engine.

As the camera panned out, it showed that she was in front of a ramp that was in front of a burning ring of fire. Revving her engine once more, her motorcycle sped up the ramp. Cheering loudly, the grandma passed through the ring of fire, her motorcycle landing on the other side.

"Heheheheh!" she chortled, giving the camera a thumbs up, "Ole' Gertrude's still got it!" With that, the camera faded to static.

* * *

 **Helen Stone**

 **The Snack Addict.**

 **17 years old.**

 **Heterosexual.**

* * *

A girl standing at 4'11" was seen in a kitchen, doing some baking. She was extremely pale with curly blonde hair and green eyes. She was chubby and had a pink beret in her hair. She was wearing a white chef's uniform, complete with a top hat.

"Hey, Total Drama!" she greeted, scooping a finger into her batter and taking a bite of her dessert, "You might as well send _everyone_ home, because do they really matter when I'm here?"

She crossed her arms and smiled smugly, "See, I'm a chef in training who has been on this reality show, Underworld's Kitchen. Sure, I _lost_ but I still have a lot more experience than everyone else. You could say that I'm a Reality TV Pro like Noah and Owen."

Taking her spoon and pointing it at the camera, she said, "So. When's my acceptance letter?" With that, the camera shut off.

* * *

 **Isadora Ambar Rayen.**

 **The Exuberant Explorer.**

 **16 years old.**

 **Bisexual.**

* * *

A Latina sitting on her black bedspread grinned and waved at the camera. She was five foot, six inches tall, with long wispy golden-brown hair that reached past her shoulder with a part on the right side. She had almond-shaped dark brown eyes, dark brown skin and a slight sprinkle of freckles along the length of her cheeks and the bridge of her wide, button nose. Her mouth was small, but with full lips, which went along with her high cheekbones and small ears. Her body type was on the bigger and curvier side with sleek shoulders, big hips, a small chest, large thighs, long legs, and a stomach that she affectionately referred to as "fluffy." She wore a long sleeved red scoopneck shirt, dark blue skinny jeans with rips and frays in them, and red ballet flats.

"Hola, Ridonculous Race," she greeted, and exclaimed with a laugh, "I'm Isadora, and I'd like to be part of your show 'cause I like money!"

She paused thoughtfully for a moment and finally mused out loud, "Plus, it'd be pretty cool to be on a show and make more friends and have that experience."

Her innocent smile turned devious as she mentioned, "Plus, one day, when my sweet husband or my honey and I have kids, I'll be able to embarrass them with archived footage of their Mama embarrassing herself on live national TV and that will be a great and cherishable moment for me." With that, her audition tape ended.

* * *

 **Jackie Lewis**

 **The Ambitious Artist.**

 **15 years old.**

 **Asexual, and does not want a relationship.**

* * *

A five foot, four inch tall, skinny Indian-Canadian girl made her way onto the screen as the camera faded in from static. She had a medium complexion, extremely curly shoulder-length black hair which was pulled back into a bun, and brown eyes. She wore paint stained pants and a purple t-shirt with musical notes on it.

Instead of speaking or even acknowledging the camera, she began to sing:

" _When they get on that train to Niagara_

 _And she can hear church bells chime_

 _The compartment is air conditioned_

 _And the mood sublime_

 _Then they get off at Saratoga for the fourteenth time!_

 _A person can develop la grippe,_

 _La grippe._

 _La post nasal drip._

 _With the wheezes_

 _And the sneezes_

 _And a sinus that's really a pip!_

 _From a lack of community property_

 _And a feeling she's getting to old_

 _A person can develop a bad, bad cold!"_

She then faked a sneeze, ending the song called Adelaide's Lament and bowed for the camera.

* * *

 **Jake Wolfe.**

 **The Genius Techie.**

 **20 years old.**

 **Heterosexual, and does not want a relationship.**

* * *

The audition tape faded in from static, showing a handsome Japanese man standing in a messy computer lab. Standing at six foot, one inch, he was well-built and muscular, with tannish skin. His blue eyes were adorned by glasses, while his hair was short, black, and spiky. A scar on his right arm was visible. He was wearing a blue button-up shirt, navy jeans, and black shoes.

"Greetings, hosts of Ridonculous Race," he began, "The name's Jake Wolfe, and I've become a real fan of the show! Knowing you could win half a million dollars by doing insanely awesome and even mental challenges make me all the more interested to join the show."

He crossed his arms and smirked, saying, "I know I don't look like much, but don't worry. I am physically and mentally prepared. I know what this show is all about, and I'm ready to take on the challenge to win the prize."

"With the money, I'll be the next great inventor in history and the world will know my name!" he said with a cocky attitude, "Sayonara, and hopefully I'll be seeing the world soon!" He winked at the camera before turning it off.

* * *

 **James Ronnery**

 **The Computer Hacker.**

 **16 years old.**

 **Heterosexual.**

* * *

A six foot tall teenager in a hoodie with ones and zeros all over it walked into view of the camera. He had dark brown hair, light blue eyes which were decorated with heavy eyeliner, and pale skin. On closer inspection, it was easy to see that he had a tiny, silver nose ring and and a single black earring. He also wore ripped dark blue jeans and black converses.

"Look," he was blunt and intimidating, "I'm James; remember that. I'm going to compete, win, and become a legend."

He stared right into the camera and continued, "I'm already a computer hacker and have been kicked out of school for it. Whatever. Those bitches won't be laughing at me _or_ hating me when I win! If you know what's good for you, motherfucker, you'll accept me."

With that, the camera turned off.

* * *

 **Joshua "Josh" Prower**

 **The Tragic Comedian.**

 **17 years old.**

 **Pansexual.**

* * *

In a bedroom, an older brother was teasing and tickling his younger, eight year old brother. The older brother stood at five foot, ten inches, with light skin, jet-black long hair going down to his shoulders, and icy blue eyes. He wore a white shirt with a red rose on it underneath a black leather jacket, a necklace of the Celtic cross, black sweatpants with red stripes, and black sandals.

"Now, now, calm down; I got to do this," he told his younger brother, before turning to the camera, "Hi, my name's Joshua. This is my little bro, Miles. We're big fans, but… well…"

"There was a really bad fire…" Miles added in melancholy.

"Yeah…" Josh continued, "We lost pretty much all we had and what we couldn't carry. We've been staying with friends in the meanwhile."

Changing the subject somewhat, he held back a laugh and said, "My buddy Noah is letting us film the tape here… even though he thinks I'm crazy for wanting to go on your show."

"Hey," a familiar voice from off-screen deadpanned, "I was on three different seasons and I _still_ have terrors."

"Regardless," Josh shrugged, "My jokes and my laughter can only help so much. Ridonculous Race _could_ help me and my bro to start life anew. All I'm asking for is a chance. My brother's only eight. I just want a chance to make it so we both have a stable future together. Mom and Dad… they're up in heaven, so we're pretty much all we have."

He finished by saying, "Please give me a chance to use my jokes and my skills to provide for him," as the camera turned off.

* * *

 **Kayla Rhodes**

 **The Pastel Goth.**

 **17 years old.**

 **Bisexual.**

* * *

At a party, a group of goths were all gathered together. In the middle of them, was the odd-one out; a pastel goth. Standing at five foot, six inches, she was fair skinned with blue eyes and dyed purple hair that reached down her back. She was noticeably curvy and had a sizeable chest to boot. A mole was on her left cheek and her nose, ears, and belly button were pierced. She was wearing a pastel blue tank-top exposing her belly button, a black skirt, black flats, and three black wristbands on her right wrist.

"Hey, Ridonculous Race," she greeted, her bubbly personality seeming extremely out of character amidst her gothic friends, "I'm a _big_ fan of the first season of the race; especially of Crimson and Ennui! They were great! But uh, that's probably not what you wanna know, huh? Hah."

She nodded for a moment before continuing, "My name's Kayla. Unlike most goths, I'm a _pastel_ goth. Hence all of the… pastel colors, you know?"

"It hurts my eyes," a nearby goth deadpanned, causing Kayla to glare at him.

" _Anyway_ ," she turned back to the camera and grinned, "I'm pretty sure I can bring a lot to the show, so I hope you pick me!" She flashed a peace sign, which earned her glares from the rest of the goths, as the camera faded to static.

* * *

 **Kelly Winston**

 **The Over-Preppy Cheerleader.**

 **18 years old.**

 **Heterosexual.**

* * *

A girl stood in a cheerleader outfit in a gymnasium, red and white pom poms in each hand. She stood at five foot, five inches and was skinny with a good tan. She had blonde hair set in a ponytail by a red scrunchie and light blue eyes with some dimples underneath them. Her cheerleading outfit consisted of a red top with "Woah" written in white on the front and "Go everyone" written in the back in white. It was tucked into her red and white striped skirt which went along with her red and white sneakers.

"Hello there!" she exclaimed, before beginning to cheer, "My name is K-E-L-L-Y W-I-N-S-T-O-N and I'm here to show you what I got."

For what felt like minutes, she began to cheer about things that seemed utterly random. Just the first things that entered her head. Finally ending her cheer-a-thon, she did a split and held her hands up in the air.

"Please select me so I can spread my gleeful cheers across the world!" she exclaimed, shaking her pom poms. With that, the camera fizzled out.

* * *

 **Lily Carter**

 **The Not-So Innocent.**

 **18 years old.**

 **Bisexual.**

* * *

In her school theater, a short Native American girl standing at five foot, one inch, walked on stage and curtsied to the camera. She had an innocent demeanor about her with reddish-tan skin and a curvy body frame. Her light brown eyes matched her brown hair that was styled into a braid in the back, hiding a scar on her neck. She was wearing a simple white sundress, a shark's tooth necklace, and black flipflops.

"Thank you so very much for your time, Mr. Don," she sweetly spoke, "My name is Lily Carter, and I wish to sign up for your… Ridonculous Race: Stranger Shuffle."

Her slender finger tapped her lips as she gave a hum of musing, "I'm a seamstress and design my own clothes. Hopefully with the money, I can finally open my dream of a personal fashion shop. With half a million dollars, I definitely could."

"But… I'm not just a pretty face," her expression took on a slightly antagonistic undertone for a moment before she curtsied again, "Thank you for your time." It was then that the camera faded into static.

* * *

 **Markus Fang**

 **The Stressed Workaholic.**

 **16 years old.**

 **Heterosexual.**

* * *

A scrawny, five foot, eight inch boy sat at a desk, before turning his attention to the camera. He had a light complexion, short brown hair, and green eyes. He wore a white button down shirt, a red tie, blue jeans, and brown shoes.

"Hey, Don," the stressed out boy greeted, "I really want to be on your show. When my mom found out, she made me type a three-hundred word essay on why you should let me in the Ridonculous Race. So that's… great." He held up the sheet of paper to show that he wasn't lying, but it was obvious that he was lying about it being great.

"Truth be told, the only reason why I want to join this show is because I want to get away from-"

"MARK!" his mother interrupted him in the background, "Did you finish your paper on the architecture of my building?! Make sure to have a drawn picture too!"

"...That," Mark spoke again, "I have to go. Please let me on your show!" With that, he reached for the camera so he could finish his work, causing the camera to turn to static.

* * *

 **Melissa Donavan**

 **The Failed Manipulator**

 **16 years old.**

 **Heterosexual.**

* * *

On the next audition tape, a five foot, five inch tall girl with long brown curly hair and hazel eyes could be seen. She had a fair complexion and an average body type. She wore a simple green short-sleeved shirt, blue jeans, and black sneakers.

"Don!" she exclaimed at the camera, "I am going to cause _so_ much drama… I'm gonna manipulate people and… be a jackass." She didn't seem too sure about this, but soon continued to try to convince to the camera that she really was a villain.

"I'm totally _not_ nice!" she continued, "I'm the exact opposite of nice! I will be the greatest villain on this show… maybe. Just let me in and… I'll eliminate more people than you could ever imagine!"

It was then that a cat crawled on Melissa's lap causing her to go, "Awwww… Who's a good kitty? You are! Yeah, you're a good kitty!"

She slowly looked back up at the camera and awkwardly spoke, "Yeah… Totally evil…" Her tape promptly ended.

* * *

 **Mitch Stevens**

 **The Creepy Shut-In**

 **16 years old.**

 **Heterosexual.**

* * *

The camera faded in from static to show a completely dark room. Inside was a boy covered in a brown cloak, obscuring all of his features. Not counting the hood, he seemed to be around five foot, seven inches.

"The day has come," he spoke in a raspy voice, "The day that I appear before the world…"

He gave a creepy chuckle and said, "My name's Mitch. I'm a bit of an… interesting case, am I not? The mystery of me… It tantalizes you. I can feel it."

He turned and sat down on his bed and said, "I'm done."

"But Mitch, you haven't done anything," his sister, who was holding the camera reminded.

"I'm done." His sister rolled her eyes and scoffed at this as she turned the camera off.

* * *

 **Naoya Ishiyo**

 **The Company Heir.**

 **16 years old.**

 **Bisexual.**

* * *

Standing in a fancily decorated bedroom, the next contestant began his audition tape. The lanky Japanese boy stood at five foot, seven inches and had pale skin, messy black hair that covered his left eye, and some freckles dotting his nose. He wore a dark blue hoodie, black jeans, a watch on his right wrist, and high cut boots.

"I'm Naoya Ishiyo, son of Keisuke Ishiyo from the Ishiyo Company," he greeted, rubbing the back of his neck awkwardly, "I know what you're thinking. What's a rich guy wanting with a reality show anyway?"

"I'm suffocating in this mansion," he sighed annoyed, "I need to meet people. Get fresh air. _Live._ "

He then added, "I know that you like drama causing contestants, so I'll bite. If I dislike someone, I'll eliminate them. Simple as that." He shrugged.

"Just… get me the heck out of here," he groaned, hanging his head. The camera faded to static.

* * *

 **Rebecca Jones**

 **The Aspiring Rock Star.**

 **18 years old.**

 **Heterosexual.**

An African-American girl sat in her bedroom, playing her guitar for the camera. She stood at five foot, nine inches, and had dark skin, hazel eyes, and her hair was dyed red and yellow, tied into a French braid. Her body type was skinny with a large chest, while she had a tattoo on her arm that read, "Exploding Volcanoes." She wore a black leather jacket with a red shirt underneath it, a black short skirt, black boots, red lipstick, and a silver watch on her right wrist.

Looking up from her guitar, she spoke, "My name's Rebecca and I'm… obviously auditioning for the Ridonculous Race. I _was_ gonna try for Total Drama, but I don't want to risk Chris killing me."

"So, what do I do?" she asked, "That's easy. I'm a rock star. I'm entering to promote my band, The Exploding Volcanoes. Let me give you a sample of my music here…"

She continued to play her guitar some, only to be interrupted by her mother's voice from downstairs, "Rebecca! Time for dinner! I've made your favorite soup! You know, the one with the froggy smiley face on it?"

Rebecca blushed in embarrassment before reaching for the camera to turn it off.

* * *

 **Robert Liam Joseph Bianca III. Or Liam, for short.**

 **The Classy Gentleman.**

 **20 years old.**

 **Heterosexual.**

A Latino man in a suit, tie, and fedora stood in front of a torn up, white wall. The tanned and muscular individual stood at five foot, eight inches, and had neatly brushed, black hair.

"Hola, Canada," he greeted in a thick Mexican accent, "My name is Robert Liam Joseph Bianca the third, but everyone usually calls me just Liam. No, not just Liam, like _together_ , but Liam. Just Liam! No!"

He cleared his throat and said, "Caramba, just ignore, please. Anyway, I have sent you this video to request a spot on el Ridonculous Race! Of course, you know that, but I thought I would just- Nevermind! I am sorry for wasting your time."

Shaking his head slightly, he continued, "Please know that we need the money, and I would give anything to travel the world and see places like Japan and France and España! But, ultimately, it is your decision and I don't want to come across as begging! Gracias for allowing me this opportunity, and I hope you have a wonderful day… Or night!" With that, his audition ended.

* * *

Don interrupted the audition tapes for a moment to say, "These next two contestants have _really_ similar names. Huh. Oh, well, we'll deal with it."

* * *

 **Rosa Cortez.**

 **The Unintentional Seducer.**

 **16 years old.**

 **Heterosexual.**

* * *

The camera focused on a girl talking to a guy. The girl was small and thin, standing at five foot, six inches, with tanned skin, dark brown hair, bright brown eyes with a hint of gold to them, and a dimple on her cheek. She was wearing red lipstick, a black strapless top that showed off the belly button ring she was wearing, a deep red miniskirt, white heeled boots, and a white leather biker jacket that was zipped open.

"Hey…" she said as she spoke to the guy, her hand subconsciously running down his arm, "You look good in that shirt." She turned and faced the camera, a little surprised that it was running.

"Sorry!" she apologized, her attention now fully on the camera, "I didn't see you. I'm Rosa. Rosa Cortez. I _have_ to be on your show. Please accept me! I'll be a great player."

She blushed for a moment and admitted, "I also have a bad habit of flirting with guys… It sucks." She shook her head and instead said, "I hope I get picked," ending her audition tape.

* * *

 **Rosalina Maza**

 **The Yaoi Fangirl.**

 **13 years old.**

 **Bisexual.**

* * *

An extremely short and skinny Japanese-Canadian middle schooler stepped into view of the camera. Standing at four foot, eight inches, she had fair skin brown hair with pink and purple streaks that were pulled into pigtails. She wore a Japanese school girl outfit that consisted of a white shirt, a purple neckpiece, a purple skirt, a pink scarf, white stockings, and black shoes.

"Hi!" the hyper girl shouted, "So, my name is Rosalina, and I wanted to join the Ridonculous Race! I'm a HUGE yaoi fan, it's like my _life._ I say you should pick me 'cuz I can get a lot of people to hook up."

On that thought, she added, "Oh, and you should bring Noah and Cody back if you choose me, 'cuz I gotta get them together soon. Or make them have their secret relationship go public. They obviously have one going on. I mean I know Noah competed last season and he has a…" she raised her fingers for finger quotes, "'girlfriend,' but NoCo can still happen! Mark my words! They are _so_ cute together! Geek yaoi is the smexiest. Ooh! And you know what other two guys are cute toge-" It was then that the camera ran out of batteries, cutting her off.

* * *

 **Sam Manniss**

 **The Ex-Intern.**

 **20 years old.**

 **Heterosexual.**

* * *

A male was seen lifting weights in his room. He stood at five foot, eleven inches and was thin and pale, but with unblemished skin. He had some muscle definition in his arms and legs. He had steel blue eyes, messy chocolate brown hair, a small scar on his right eyebrow, and an S-shaped scar on his elbow. He wore a blue denim jacket over a black t-shirt imprinted with a gold heart on the center surrounded by purple flames, beige cargo shorts, and hiking boots with white socks.

He smirked at the camera and spoke, "Hello. You may not remember me, but my name is Sam Maniss. I was an intern for Total Drama, which meant I was basically a red shirt on Star Trek. Now, $9.50 an hour was nice, especially with the locals and friends I made, but I want more. I wanna try for the prize."

He rationed, "I think I can take this challenge. Hell, I was practically doing them before anyone else. Pick me, and I'll show you what this ex-intern can do." With that, the camera faded to static.

* * *

 **Shakir "Popi" Miller**

 **The Insane Funny Guy.**

 **17 years old.**

 **Asexual, and does not want a relationship.**

* * *

As the static faded, the camera focused on an African-American male hanging on a branch of a fifty foot tall tree. Standing at five foot, eleven inches, he had almond black eyes, low-cut black hair, and a skinny body frame with some muscles. A huge scar could be seen across his left eye.

"Oi!" he shouted down at the camera man, "Is it on?!"

"Get the hell out of the tree!" the person holding the camera shouted back, who just so happened to be the boy's father.

"No, man!" the boy shouted back.

"For the love of…" the father mumbled before calling out, "Come down so we can film this!"

"Nah, I'm cool," the boy shook his head, "Oh. Bring me food, please."

The cameraman turned the camera towards his own face and pleaded, "Please take him. He's too much to handle. He _needs_ to leave. Please take him. _I beg of you._ "

"Wait!" Shakir shouted from his spot on the branches, "You're talking to the camera?! That means I'm on the TV's! Hi, Mom! Hi, Dad! Hi, me! Let me on this cartoon, please! I heard I could have fun!" Somehow, Shakir had broken the fourth wall.

"Please take him," his father pleaded once more, "I'm desperate." With that, his father turned off the camera, changing the view back to static.

* * *

 **Tai Zhang**

 **The Illusionist.**

 **18 years old.**

 **Homosexual.**

* * *

The camera turned on to show a mute Chinese man smirking at it. He backed away to show that his audition tape was taking place at a circus tent. He had cream toned skin and a lean, yet muscular build. His eyes were onyx and he had short black hair with bangs covering his left eye. He wore a white long-sleeved collared shirt underneath a sleeveless black vest, black slacks, black dress shoes, and a black top hat.

He took off his hat and pulled a pure white bunny out from inside of it, which caused him to look confused. He shook his head and released the hare. Reaching inside his hat once again, he smiled and pulled out some ashes from the hat.

Blowing the ashes away, they formed in midair before catching on fire, the words forming, " _My name is Tai Zhang and I wish to participate in the new season of the Ridonculous Race,"_ before the words faded away.

He pulled out another handful of ash and repeated the process, the words forming, " _I will use any means necessary to win the prize, so I can finally be able to move out on my own and perform to my heart's content."_

As soon as the words faded, he placed the hat back on his head and bowed, just as the camera began to fade out.

* * *

 **Vanessa Cudgens**

 **The Flirty Geek.**

 **19 years old.**

 **Bisexual.**

* * *

The camera turned on to show an African-Canadian girl sitting in her room in a lilac two piece bathing suit. She stood at five foot, six inches tall, with long, straight black hair, rich auburn brown skin, and pretty green eyes. She had a round, cute face and a curvy body type, as well as a birthmark on her shoulder that she claimed looked like either Africa or a potato.

"Hey, guys; Vanessa here," she greeted, "I wanna be part of the next Ridonculous Race. Why?"

She giggled for a moment before explaining, "It sounds like a giant video game, and I'm all over that."

She then posed, giving the camera a wink, saying, "Pick me, and you'll get all the sex appeal you need, baby." With that, she ended her audition there.

* * *

 **Victor Burns**

 **The Mean Principal.**

 **52 years old.**

 **Heterosexual, and happily married.**

* * *

The camera faded in from static to see an older man sitting in an office chair. He was balding, with only a few blotches of grey hairs around his head remaining. He stood at five foot, five, with hazel eyes and a chubby body build. He was wearing a blue suit and tie and was smoking a cigar.

"Kids these days," he grumbled, "So undisciplined. Especially on reality TV! It's embarrassing!"

He gave a smug look and crossed his arms, "However! I'm willing to change all that! Get on the Ridonculous Race and show those brats what's for! So, pick me. That's an order!" With that, the camera faded into static.

* * *

 **Xavier Millstone**

 **The Ace Detective.**

 **19 years old.**

 **Bisexual.**

* * *

At a crime scene, a group of cops were arresting a diamond smuggler who had been caught by a young detective standing amidst the cops. Standing at five foot, ten inches, he was tanned and had dark brown eyes. His hair was long and black and in a similar style to a previous Total Drama contestant, Alejandro. He wore glasses and had an average body frame with muscular shoulders. His attire was a black sweater vest, a red blazer jacket over it, a white ascot around his neck, black jeans, and black loafers.

"Well done, young Detective Millstone," a cop spoke to him, "Want me to put in a good word for the blokes back at the district?"

"No," the detective spoke in a British accent and shook his head, "How I despise the limelight."

The cop looked confused, but shrugged and moved on. The person holding the camera said, "Xavier! It's on!"

"Thank you, Chip," he turned towards the camera and gave it a wave, "Greetings, Ridonculous Race. My name is Xavier Millstone of the Millstone Family Detective Agency. It's redundant to say that I'm a detective, is it not? Walk with me."

Xavier walked on, Chip walking alongside him so he could film him. Xavier began to speak once more, "I have an IQ of 180 and great deductive reasoning. But… I need a change of pace." An excited smile crossed his face, but his tone stayed calm, "Adventure. Excitement. And a nice trip around the world may do just that, while also spreading the name of my family's detective agency."

Chip turned the camera towards him and added, "Plus, it doesn't help that he's just a big dork. The dude still likes comic books and Power Rangers, can you believe _that_?!"

Xavier stammered and sputtered when the camera turned back on him, his sarcastic personality shattered. "I-I don't know what you're talking about! Ugh… Just… Just turn it off, Chip." He shook his head, blushing embarrassedly, as Chip did just that.

* * *

"And there you have it; the cast of The Ridonculous Race: Stranger Shuffle!" he exclaimed, "Which two contestants will take home the gold? What kind of drama will unfold? What kind of relationships will unfurl? And will any of them make it to the finale without hurling? I doubt it."

He pointed to the camera and said, "Stay tuned for the first episode of... The Ridonculous Race!"

* * *

 **And there you have it! The cast we'll be following for this fic.**

 **I'm already starting work on the first two episode. The first episode will not have an elimination, but the second episode will. Before I end this chapter, there are a couple of review questions I'd like to ask you.**

* * *

 **Review Questions:**

From their audition tapes, who are you rooting for except for your own character?

Which characters could you see your OC being friends with?:

Which characters could you see your OC getting a crush on?:

Which characters could you see your OC becoming enemies with?:

If you have two OCs, just answer the last three questions twice, but put which OC you're answering for at the top of each set of questions.

* * *

 **Example:**

Naoya.

Which characters could you see your OC being friends with?: (Enter characters here.)

Which characters could you see your OC getting a crush on?: (Enter characters here.)

Which characters could you see your OC becoming enemies with?: (Enter characters here.)

Kayla.

Which characters could you see your OC being friends with?: (Enter characters here.)

Which characters could you see your OC getting a crush on?: (Enter characters here.)

Which characters could you see your OC becoming enemies with?: (Enter characters here.)

* * *

 **That's all for now. Stay tuned for the first episode of The Ridonculous Race: Stranger Shuffle!**


	3. Episode 1: This Ain't a Scene

**It's time to get this show on the road! The first episode of The Ridonculous Race: Stranger Shuffle is ready to be kicked off! You ready?**

 **While there may or may not be a little ship tease in this chapter, I wouldn't assume that just because certain characters interacted that they'll become an item. Ships will take time to form and develop, and friendships and conflicts are just as important as romantic relationships. So there'll be a _lot_ of interactions between contestants on all three fronts throughout this story.**

 **Now, without further adieu, let's get this show on the road!**

* * *

 **Disclaimer:** I do not own Total Drama nor the spin-off the Ridonculous Race. Justin, Scarlett, and Junior belong to those two franchises, Naoya and Kayla belong to me, and the rest of the contestants belong to their respective creators.

* * *

 **Episode 1: This Ain't a Scene, It's a Ridonculous Race**

* * *

Standing on the corner of a Toronto street, the cameras began to film Don as the second season of the Ridonculous Race was finally underway.

"Hey, there; this is Don," he flashed a narcissistic smile to the camera, "We're coming at you from Toronto, Ontario. Thirty-three brand new contestants, one Ridonculous Race alumni, and two Total Drama alumni will be arriving by bus to compete with us for that coveted million dollar prize! But we have a little twist this season…"

He crossed his arms and explained, "This time? Each leg of the race, the teams will be shuffled randomly, meaning that at any time, someone may be competing with their best friend. Or their worst enemy. Because of this, a new layer of strategy has been added to the race. _Wiiith_ a few other twists coming down the road."

"How will the first episode go down?" Don asked, before saying, "Find out right here on… The Ridonculous Race: Stranger Shuffle!"

* * *

After the theme song, the camera moved towards the bus, Don's voice began to narrate, "We have already shuffled our thirty-six new contestants into their beginning eighteen teams, which they'll be part of for this episode only. Let's check in on them, shall we?"

* * *

 **Team 1: Xavier, the Ace Detective and Rosa, the Unintentional Seducer**

 **Team 2: Brooke, the Kind-Hearted Bookworm and Junior, the Comeback Kid**

* * *

"So, you're a detective?" Rosa had asked her first teammate in the competition, who looked up from the book he was reading and nodded to her.

"It's a family occupation," he replied, simply, "Basically, if you don't believe the police can help you, we'll take care of it instea- Err, what are you doing?"

Subconsciously, Rosa had begun to coyly twirl her finger on Xavier's arm. She withdrew her hand, once again not able to help accidentally flirting with guys. She cleared her throat awkwardly.

"I'm sorry about that," she apologized simply.

Xavier shrugged and returned to his book, being one to not recognize flirting whatsoever, "If you're looking for a magnifying glass, then I'm afraid to tell you that not all detectives carry those."

"Detectives still carry magnifying glasses?" she asked, tilting her head slightly.

The detective nodded, "For some reason. Why, I'll never know. But, I don't, for one-" The camera panned off of the deadpan detective, deciding to put its interest instead on Danielle and Junior.

"What'cha writing?" the younger contestant asked, as Brooke was writing down notes on a notepad.

"Uh," the brunette bookworm tucked a piece of hair behind her ear before replying, "I'm writing a novel. I want to take some inspiration from the competition, too."

"Wow," the thirteen year old commented in awe, "That's… Actually really cool."

Brooke, not one to be receptive to compliments, rubbed the back of her neck and asked, "Not really. I mean, it's just writing-"

"Uh, yeah, really," Rosa added, jumping into the conversation, "It's actually really awesome."

"I have to admit," the British detective chimed in, "It's better than just leaving the competition with nothing but bruises." In his own way, this was showing his own interest in the topic.

Brooke, unsure of what to even say from all of these encouragements, cleared her throat and sheepishly said, "Um… Thanks."

* * *

 **Team Confessional: Xavier and Rosa**

"Nothing but bruises?" Rosa asked, turning to face her current teammate, "You're not all that optimistic, are you?"

"I wouldn't call myself a _pessimist_ ," Xavier crossed his arms and chuckled, "But I _am_ definitely a realist."

"Then what's the realist view of us winning the first challenge?" she asked, putting her hands on her lap to stop herself from accidentally flirting with someone again.

"One out of eighteen," was his quick reply, before adding, "...Oh, you were wanting me to be _encouraging_."

* * *

 **Team Confessional: Brooke and Junior.**

"This is my second time on this show," Junior spoke to the camera, grinning as he crossed his arms, "As much as I love my dad, I'm really glad that he might not end up getting us eliminated this time."

"...I'm pretty sure he can see this," Brooke reminded.

"...Sh-" The camera cut out before Junior finished his sentence.

* * *

 **Team 3: Kelly, the Over-Preppy Cheerleader and Scarlett, the Evil Scientist**

 **Team 4: Danielle, the Wild Animal Child and Kayla, the Pastel Goth**

* * *

"R-A-C-E!" Kelly finished her cheer, before waving her pompoms around and giving out a giddy "Whooooo!" of exclamation.

Scarlett, who was leaning against the window, finally turned to look at the cheerleader and asked, "Not to be rude, but do you think that you could spread your cheers with the rest of the contestants and not just me?"

"I'm always happy to spread some good vibes," was Kelly's smiling response, "I'll be back!"

When Kelly got up to go see how the other teams were doing, Scarlett mumbled under her breath, " _Finally._ " She _was_ glad that she had another chance to win some money, but she knew she couldn't pull the stunt she pulled at Pahkitew Island twice. She'd be _really_ sent to jail for that.

Meanwhile, with Danielle and Kayla, the two contestants were idly chatting, getting to know each other.

"I haven't ever really seen a goth with your… style before," the British animal lover spoke, as she motioned towards Kayla's light-violet hair and bright color coordinated clothes.

"I get that a lot," Kayla shrugged slightly, " _Buuuut_ , that's fine! It's my style! You know. Unless other goths kick me out of friend groups, I'm going to keep it up!"

"Here's hoping that doesn't happen, though," Danielle encouraged, smiling lightly.

"Hey!" Kelly slowed to a stop as she stood in front of Danielle and Kayla, "Who wants to hear some cheering to pep them up for the race?!"

Scarlett, still back at the seat she was in to begin with mumbled, "I really doubt they'd want to-"

"Sure!" Kayla beamed at the cheerleader, "I'd love to hear one!"

Danielle shrugged, "Sure. Why not?"

"...Hear it," Scarlett finished, with a slight scowl.

* * *

 **Team Confessional: Danielle and Kayla**

"Honestly, it's not a bad idea to try to intermingle with the teams," Danielle mused as she sat in the confessional with her teammate, "I mean, we're all on the same show and we definitely could end up on teams with the others, so we might as well be buds."

The pastel goth nodded in agreement, "Exactamundo! Let's make this summer one to remember!"

"I'm all for that," Danielle smiled and nodded at the other girl.

* * *

 **Solo Confessional: Kelly.**

"I can tell that Scarlett isn't the most into this," the blonde, tanned cheerleader revealed, with her hands on her hips, "I mean, I _did_ watch Pahkitew Island, so I know how she is, but… We're on a team! We've got to get along, and I'm sure she, like, understands that!"

* * *

 **Solo Confessional: Scarlett**

Scarlett could be seen banging her head on the wall of the confessional, mumbling, "I'm. Already. Surrounded. By. Imbeciles."

* * *

 **Team 5: Rebecca, the Aspiring Rock Star and Rosalina, the Yaoi Fangirl**

 **Team 6: Sam, the Ex-Intern and Blaine, the Aspiring Photographer**

* * *

Rebecca looked up from strumming at her guitar to see Rosalina framing her hands around Sam, the ex-intern, and Blaine, the photographer, in a heart-shaped motion.

"What are you doing?" Rebecca asked in confusion, "You have a crush on one of those two or something?"

Rosalina shook her head vigorously, and turned in her seat to face Rebecca, "Of course not! I'm seeing if I get good crushing vibes from them!"

"Towards you?" Rebecca asked, raising an eyebrow.

"No, silly," the girl in the Japanese school uniform giggled, "Towards each other!"

The rockstar shrugged and turned back to her guitar, "I'm not really sure that shipping real people is the best idea in the world."

"Of course it's a good idea!" Rosalina exclaimed, just wanting to get a yaoi pairing started this season as soon as she could, before asking Rebecca, "Hey, uh. Can you go ask them about their feelings for each other for me?" Rebecca then looked up from her guitar and looked over at the camera, staring at it as if she was on The Office.

Meanwhile, with Sam and Blaine, the two boys had begun to have animated smalltalk over Blaine's hobby.

"The last thing that I got a great picture of was this huge scenery from a mountain," Blaine explained, adjusting his glasses slightly, as he handed his camera over to the ex-intern, "See?"

Sam glanced at the photo and gave a descending whistle, "Man, I bet that was a badass time."

"It _was_ pretty cool," the photographer replied with a grin, "Hey, wanna take a selfie? I'd think it'd make a pretty nice start to the competition."

"Sure," Sam shrugged slightly.

"Awesome," the boy with the partially dyed hair nodded, "Can you grab my other camera out of my suitcase? I don't wanna waste film in this one."

"Alright," Sam shrugged again and stood up, walking towards the suitcases. However, when he walked, he accidentally bumped into a girl that was around six inches shorter than he was.

"Crap, sorry about that," he rubbed the back of his neck before asking, "You alright?"

The African-American rocker rubbed the back of her red and yellow dyed head and nodded, "Yeah, yeah! I'm fine! No worries, dude."

"Good," he nodded, before extending a hand out to her, "The name's Sam. And you're…?"

"Rebecca," she smiled lightly, taking his hand and shaking it, "Rebecca Jones."

"Nice to meet'cha, Rebecca," he replied with a grin, before maneuvering around her, "I'm just gonna… Get Blaine's backpack."

It was then that Rebecca remembered what Rosalina had asked her to do, "Hey! How do you feel about Blaine?"

Sam stared at her in confusion, before Rebecca quickly added, "No, I mean- My teammate asked me to ask you."

* * *

 **Solo Confessional: Rebecca**

Rebecca groaned, "First my mom embarrasses me on my audition video, and now this. Great. This isn't the _best_ start I've ever had to a show."

* * *

 **Solo Confessional: Sam**

"Blaine's cool and all, but I don't swing that way," Sam shook his head, before musing, "But, y'know? That Rebecca's kinda cute herself now that I think about it."

* * *

 **Team 7: James, the Computer Hacker and Ethan, the Prankster**

 **Team 8: Brady, the Cowardly Jerk and Lily, the Not-So-Innocent One.**

* * *

James looked up from his laptop to see none other than his teammate, Ethan, snickering, as he took a water bottle and filled up a water balloon.

"Don't get my computer wet," James warned, fixing his gaze back on his work.

"Pssh," Ethan waved the computer hacker off, "I wasn't. But do you see that chick over there?"

He pointed towards none other than Lily, who was currently knitting what seemed to be a pink blanket. James blew out some air from his nostrils, but said nothing. Well, she did look like an easy target at least. As long as his computer didn't get wet, he was fine with whatever Ethan was planning.

Brady, Lily's teammate, gave an exaggerated yawn at what Lily was doing, "Knitting? Seriously? Who are you, that grandma over there?" He jerked his thumb towards Gertrude, who was animatedly talking with her teammate.

"It relieves my stress," Lily replied, not looking up from what she was knitting, "You do not have to sit and watch me knit. So please, do not feel like you have to."

Brady scoffed and stood up, as he noticed Ethan sneaking up behind the girl, "Heh. You're right. I don't. Later."

With that, Brady went and sat down next to James.

"I can't wait until Ms. Prim and Proper gets soaked," Brady looked on in amusement, speaking aloud, "This is a competition! Not America's Next Top Doily Maker!"

"Mm," James replied with a nod, looking up from his laptop to watch the scene, "It should be pretty funny."

Ethan stood behind Lily, undetected from her gaze. A grin spread across the prankster's face as he picked up the water balloon and held it over his head.

Suddenly, Lily's arm jerked up, causing the needle in her hand to puncture the water balloon, soaking Ethan. James and Brady looked on in awe, as Lily turned back to Ethan and exclaimed, putting a hand over her mouth, "Oh my gosh! You're soaked!"

* * *

 **Solo Confessional: James**

"That was obviously on purpose," James smirked, "Not bad for a goody two-shoes."

* * *

 **Solo Confessional: Brady**

"Well, that was really damn boring," Brady grumbled, crossing his arms, "I mean, at least _someone_ got soaked out of it, I guess."

* * *

 **Team 9: Jackie, the Ambitious Artist and Josh, the Tragic Comedian**

 **Team 10: Victor, the Mean Principal and Vanessa, the Flirty Geek.**

* * *

"So, you sing, dance, _and_ do art?" Josh asked his teammate in curiosity, before laughing slightly and saying, "Talk about a triple threat."

"Sculpting, piano, and violin too," the Indian-Canadian girl added with a nod, "But yes. I just really enjoy every art form, honestly."

"Damn," the comedian added with a whistle, nodding slightly, "I guess that's more of a quintuple threat than anything, huh?"

"You could say tha-" Jackie was cut off by the loud yelling of a middle aged man. Both teammates gave each other a bewildered look before looking towards the source of the yelling.

"It's _obscene!_ " the principal named Victor shouted, gesturing towards Vanessa's clothes before pointing towards Junior and Rosalina, "There are _children_ present!"

Vanessa looked down at her sea green tank top, black skinny jeans, and white sandals, before looking over at Victor, "Hey. You're the one being a pervert." She would have added this time, but she already had enough of this guy. He was absolutely obnoxious.

"Me?! _Perverted?!_ " the man began to stomp his foot in an outrage, "That is _just_ like kids these days! You're always on your damn Face Tumblers and My Tubes, ignoring what smart, glorious adults like myself- Where are you going?!"

"Gonna listen to anime music away from you," Vanessa shrugged, as she moved past Victor, adding in annoyance, "Buh-bye."

"Grrrr, that's just _like-_ " once again, Victor burst out into another rambling rant at this, absolutely annoyed beyond belief of this.

Jackie gave a, "Huh," before turning back to Josh, "One of us should _probably_ go say something to her." She didn't necessarily want to, but she did throw the idea out there for Josh to pick up. And pick it up he did.

Standing up, he went to go sit in the empty seat next to Vanessa, "So. You escape Mt. Vic-suvius?"

Vanessa laughed a bit before nodding, "I'm not going to let that old man ruin my time."

"Exactly," Josh replied, before shrugging, "Who knows. Maybe he'll be done erupting before long."

The flirt nodded for a moment before looking Josh over once and smirking, "Soooo… How're _you_ doing?"

* * *

 **Team Confessional: Jackie and Josh**

"For real, though," Josh spoke, with his arms crossed, "That's a really good way for _everyone_ to hate you on the first day. Not cool, Victor."

"Maybe if he teams up with someone else annoying, they'll lose the race together," Jackie replied, noting, "It'd be a win-win."

"So, basically, nothing of value would be lost?" Josh asked, chuckling a bit.

"Essentially," Jackie agreed, amusedly.

* * *

 **Solo Confessional: Vanessa**

"I'm not going to let that old man ruin my fun," Vanessa determined, crossing her arms over her chest, "I've got a competition to win, you know?"

She gave a coy smile and added, " _Annnnd_ , there's some pretty yummy guys and girls around here too. That helps a good amount, honestly."

* * *

 **Team 11: Ash, the Nature Lover and Shakir, the Insane Funny Guy.**

 **Team 12: Melissa, the Failed Manipulator and Isadora, the Exuberant Explorer**

* * *

As Victor continued to rant, bringing a lot of attention upon himself, two team members watched on in a mix of annoyance and amusement.

"Wow," Ash, the nature lover, mused, "He's only been here for one day and I already hope he gets eliminated."

"Yo, maybe the first challenge will be sacrificing him off the top of Toronto's Sky Tower," the always lovably odd Shakir mused with a grin, "...Damn, that's not that bad of an idea, actually…"

"Or maybe the first challenge will be, 'leave Victor on the bus and never look back,'" she replied, smirking slightly.

Shakir tapped his lip for a minute before nodding, "Yeah, honestly, I could go for that, too!"

The two sat in silence for a minute, before Shakir asked, "No, really, do you think they'd let me climb the sky tower like they did last season? Or would I hafta put that in my own hands?" Ash just gave a shrug of indifference to that. From just the few minutes she had known Shakir, it wasn't like that would stop him anyway.

Also watching the ranting man was a certain Latina and a certain self-proclaimed antagonist.

"Wow," Isadora looked on, before bluntly stating, "I feel bad for her, but I'm _reeeeally_ glad I'm not on his team."

"Same," Melissa agreed, before looking over at the Latina and grinning, "So… Alliance?"

Isadora blinked for a second, before raising an eyebrow, "This early? We haven't even done a challenge yet."

"Rule number one about being a reality show manipulator is to get some people to work under you!" despite what she was saying, Melissa seemed to be genuine about forming an alliance, "So, uh… Pretty please?"

Isadora stared at Melissa for a moment, before deciding to stand up and walk away, saying nothing more to the girl.

"...Man, I didn't want to have to eliminate you," Melissa sighed, crossing her arms and looking away sadly. There went her chance at a first friend in the competition.

Isadora decided to sit in the aisle seat across from Ash and Shakir, asking Ash, "Uh… What's he doing?"

Isadora pointed towards Shakir, who was hanging upside down from the luggage rack, counting forward to what seemed to be a thousand.

Ash shrugged, "No idea. It's amusing at least."

* * *

 **Team confessional: Ash and Shakir.**

"Uggggh, are we there yet?" Shakir groaned, laying out on the bench of the confessional, obviously bored from the long trip to their first destination.

"Does it look like we're there yet?" Ash asked, raising an eyebrow.

"...Yes?"

"No," she shook her head, causing Shakir to groan once again.

* * *

 **Solo Confessional: Isadora**

"I'm not going to let first impressions change much here," Isadora smiled at the confessional camera, "Take it easy, you know? Unless something just absolutely gets unbearable, I just know that this competition will be amazing!" She seemed to have had a burst of renewed vigor, ready as ever for the first challenge.

* * *

 **Team 13: Lexi, the Flirty Punk and Gertrude, the Thrill-Seeking Grandma**

 **Team 14: Markus, the Stressed Workaholic and Liam, the Classy Gentleman.**

* * *

"And then, he _flew_ out of the arena, and I gave him a hard piledriver to the stomach!" Gertrude was explaining one of her personal experiences to Lexi, who was extremely interested to hear what the older woman had to say, "Direct hit! Pinned him down! Won the match, you can bet your bottom dollar!"

"Nice," Lexi congratulated Gertrude, before saying, "I never thought I'd hear about a woman who decided to take up wrestling at like… age seventy."

"You're never too late to live out your dreams, deary," Gertrude gave the teenager a wink, "Never forget that, and you'll be golden in whatever you do."

"Huh," Lexi mused for a moment, before nodding a friendly nod to the grandmother, "I'll keep that in mind."

"'Atta girl," Gertrude replied, before digging in her suitcase, "Now where did I put that slingshot…"

Meanwhile, Mark was working on an essay. In a moving bus. Before the competition. His partner, Liam, leaned over and looked at it for a moment, before asking, "Why are you doing schoolwork on a reality show?"

"It's for my mom," Markus replied, a little tiredly, "I have to give an essay about the entire inner area of what she's working on right now. Four-hundred words or more."

"Maybe you should relax," Liam tried to reason with him, but he shook his head.

"No, I need to go ahead and get it done before the challenge- Ow!" Markus was then hit in the back of the head by a paperclip. He and Liam turned back towards Lexi and Gertrude, who looked at the two boys and then each other, before pointing at their teammate, saying, "She did it."

* * *

 **Team Confessional: Lexi and Gertrude**

"We both did it," Lexi amusedly told the cameras, her arms crossed over her chest, "I never thought that hanging out with someone like Gertrude would be so chill and fun, honestly."

"Right back at you, sister," Gertrude replied with an amused cackle.

* * *

 **Team 15: Charlotte, the Enthusiastic Actress and Jake, the Genius Techie**

 **Team 16: Mitch, the Creepy Shut-In and Davis, the One-Man Acappella Group**

* * *

Charlotte peered over Jake's shoulder at his work, moving a strand of dyed pink hair out of her face.

"What'cha up to?" she asked out of curiosity.

"I'm getting as much information about where we could be going as possible," he replied before shaking his head, "But… Don's got it locked up pretty tight."

"You're hacking Don's servers?" Charlotte asked, laughing slightly.

"Hey, it's fair game," the Asian techie grinned, "I mean. It's not like there's anything there, anyway."

" _Teammate, our victory is nigh~"_ a certain singer could be heard nearby, bringing the attention of the actress and genius towards him and his partner.

"The destruction of the world as we know it is nigh," was the cloaked Mitch's dark response, "When this world is engulfed into fire and flames, you will see."

"...Fire and flames is the same thing," Davis reminded the creepy boy. All Mitch did in response was give a low, dull, "Meh."

* * *

 **Team Confessional: Charlotte and Jake**

"He's not really the biggest ray of sunshine, is he?" Jake asked, amusedly.

"I don't know," Charlotte gave a shrug, "It's kinda creepy cute."

"Creepy cute?" Jake repeated.

"Creepy cute."

Jake nodded, "Ah. Creepy cute."

* * *

 **Team 17: Justin, the Male Model and Tai, the Illusionist.**

 **Team 18: Naoya, the Company Heir and Helen, the Snack Addict.**

* * *

"And then, when I won _that_ cooking competition, I got my first acceptance to an _actual_ reality show," Helen continued to chat Naoya's ear off, prattling on and on about her goals and accomplishments.

The heir, however, looked less than pleased. If he knew he was going to be figuratively trapped in another way, he wouldn't have signed up for this show in the first place. He turned back from his seat to watch another team, that was a lot more entertaining than just listening to someone talk for now three hours.

"Do another one," Justin prodded Tai, in awe of the illusionist's abilities.

The mute magician nodded and held a quarter in his hand. Closing his hands around the quarter, he then released them, showing that it had disappeared. He tapped at his wrists once or twice to show that he hadn't hidden it inside of his sleeve.

He stood up and walked over behind Helen and Naoya. With a pushing motion from his hand, he sent a cloud of dust around Helen.

Helen coughed for a moment before asking, "What the-" It was then that she suddenly spit out a quarter.

Naoya stared at Helen. Helen stared at Tai. Tai didn't seem surprised at all. Naoya glanced at Justin. The three contestants then clapped for the magician, who promptly gave a bow.

* * *

 **Team Confessional: Justin and Tai.**

"You know, with my dashingly good looks and Tai's skills?" the Hawaiian male model asked, "I'm pretty sure that this first challenge will be a piece of cake."

Tai just gave a silent nod and smile, glancing over at Justin once.

* * *

The bus slowed to a stop and opened its doors to let the contestants out. They had finally reached their destination. Not Toronto, Ontario, like they expected. Instead, this season was starting out at Vancouver, British Columbia.

As they walked out of the bus alongside their partners, Don greeted them at the first Don Box, "Welcome, racers, to British Columbia! The first leg of the Ridonculous Race!"

"Technically wouldn't you call this the starting line?" Davis asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Leg, starting line, whatever," Don frowned and shook his head, "The point is-"

"The point is irrelevant," Mitch replied in monotone, "Just like the essence of life."

Don gave Mitch a strange look, as did a few of the contestants as well. Clearing his throat, Don spoke, "Okay, Mitch. You make Crimson and Ennui look like sunny preps in comparison."

Mitch's expression didn't change, but he simply said, "Thanks."

Don rolled his eyes before complaining, "Great. Now I've forgot where I got to. Where was I?"

"I'm pretty sure you were going to explain the first challenge," Markus rose his hand to answer Don's question.

"Right; glad I remembered it!" Don grinned vainly before turning and motioning towards the group of buildings behind him, "Do you guys know what this is?"

"Ooh, I do!" Charlotte's eyes glimmered with enthusiasm, "It's Vancouver Film Studios!"

"Correct, Charlotte!"

* * *

 **Solo Confessional: Charlotte**

"An acting challenge?" the actress seemed absolutely overjoyed with the thought of an acting challenge being what started them off, "I have no idea how acting could play into the race, but I'm ready! Way ready!"

* * *

 **Team Confessional: Jackie and Josh.**

"It's every Canadian actress's dream to be cast by Vancouver Studios," Jackie explained, knowingly, "To think that we have a challenge tailored for our team this early in the competition."

"I'm not really sure they'll accept stand up comedy though," Josh mused before asking, "Hey, what if the challenge has absolutely nothing to do with acting?"

"No way," Jackie shook her head, "I can feel it. This has to be an acting challenge."

* * *

"Since the setup of the competition is a little different this season, I'll be reading your first Don Box tip," the host explained, as he hit the button on the machine that resembled him, pulling out the ticket that spit out of its mouth, "Your first challenge is simple. You must traverse through the studio lot to pick up your personal Ridonculous Race passports, and exit the south exit of the studio, where you'll find me and the chill zone. The team that makes it there first will receive an advantage in our first location after we shuffle the teams again, meaning two teams will get the advantage. The last team to make it may or may **not** be eliminated. Sound simple?"

* * *

 **Team Confessional: Jackie and Josh**

Jackie stared at Josh dryly for a minute, before Josh pulled out his phone and hit a sound-effect that went, "Wah-wah-wah-wahhhh."

* * *

 **Team Confessional: Charlotte and Jake**

"I really hope we have an acting challenge before this ends," Charlotte sighed, a little bummed that they wouldn't be acting in the challenge. That was her whole life, after all.

"Am I the only one worried that this so-called walking challenge will be something a lot more dangerous than it should be?" Jake asked, turning towards his teammate.

"How bad could it be?" she shrugged, "They can't do something too dangerous on the first episode, right?"

* * *

"This is way too dangerous for the first episode!" Markus screamed, as he and Liam tried to outrun the special effects explosions that were behind them. Almost immediately when all the teams started, this happened. Explosions went off. Earthquakes began to go off. All thanks to the studio's pro special effects teams.

No challenge would be _that_ easy.

"We can do it!" Liam exclaimed, trying to encourage his teammate, "We just have to keep running and grab our passports at the center of the par-"

Liam slammed into Mitch, the two boys falling to the ground, as their partners looked on in awe.

"Uh… where did he come from?" Markus asked, turning to face Davis.

"He's fast and quiet," Davis replied with a shrug, before giving an almost musical scream when he saw another set of explosions go off, "Nevermind that! We need to get going again-"

Mitch was missing. Davis stood there for a moment, as he watched Markus help Liam up and the two ran off once again. Deciding to not stay and get himself blown up, he decided to head on as well.

* * *

 **Solo Confessional: Mitch**

"The fact that I could die at anytime invigorates me," the morbid hooded figure mused, "It almost gives me the drive to win this competition."

* * *

Somehow, Naoya and Helen had found themselves in the company of Xavier and Rosa. How, they weren't exactly sure. But they had found a place underneath a tree in the studio lot that wasn't experiencing as many explosions as the rest of the studio. Naoya and Helen looked moderately worried from the challenge, Rosa looked concerned, and Xavier was in deep thought.

"We're doomed," Naoya paced nervously, "I knew I should have stayed in the mansion! The first time I get to go out on my own and now I'm gonna die-"

"Hey, hey," Rosa stepped forward and grabbed Naoya's hands, rubbing them slightly subconsciously, "Calm down. They can't kill us. I promise. Trust me." Once again, her words had a flirting undertone, but not on purpose.

"...O-oh, right."

Helen turned to Xavier and said, "Your partner really needs to tone… whatever she has down."

"Your partner was just about to have a nervous breakdown, or did you conveniently forget that?" Xavier asked, sarcastically back to her.

"So what if-"

It was then that another explosion rocked the area. This time, however, the tree that they were under was affected and began to topple down towards them.

"Great Barrier Reef!" Xavier exclaimed, as he grabbed Rosa by the arm and tugged her to the right. Helen quickly did the same with Naoya, tugging him to the left. The tree collapsed, crashing onto the ground, nearby. However, it separated the two teams.

"Hey, are you guys okay?" Naoya called from the other side of the tree.

"Of course they're okay," Helen urged Naoya, pulling him to come on, "Let's get moving!"

"Yeah, but wouldn't- Woah!" With that, Naoya was interrupted by Helen tugging him on so they could make it to the center of the studio.

Rosa watched the two run off before turning to face the detective standing next to her, "I guess we'll find a way around."

"It seems that way," the Brit nodded slightly, crossing his arms over his chest, "We don't seem to have any other choice."

* * *

 **Solo Confessional: Naoya**

Naoya looked moderately annoyed as he crossed his arms and looked into the camera, "You know? I honestly wonder how good of a partner Helen is. Especially if whenever I'm _not_ on a team with her, she might ditch me like she did Rosa and Xavier."

* * *

 **Team Confessional: Rosa and Xavier**

"Can't you use your detective skills to get us to the finish line quicker?" Rosa asked, raising an eyebrow at her partner.

With an overdramatic tone, Xavier replied, "Damn it, Rosa, I'm a detective, not a miracle worker!" He paused for a second before adding in his usual calm tone, "I've always wanted to say that." Rosa laughed a bit and rolled her eyes.

* * *

"G-got them!"

As Junior kept an eye out for any "natural" disasters on the film lot, Brooke had grabbed her and Junior's passports, running back to her younger teammate and handing him his.

"Thanks, Brooke!" he replied with a grin before deciding, "Let's hurry before things get… well. Way worse."

Brooke nodded, "Alright!"

With that, the two were off once again, and Melissa and Isadora showed up to the center of the studio instead.

"Alliance member!" Melissa exclaimed, pointing towards the passport, "Retrieve our passports!"

Isadora turned towards Melissa and crossed her arms, "Okay. We're not in an alliance. And what's the magic words?"

"...Pretty please with sugar on top?" Melissa asked, showing a genuinely sweet smile.

Isadora sighed, but went over to grab the passport. Meanwhile, Kelly went to hop over the cracked places in the pavement to grab her and Scarlett's passports, doing several flips and cartwheels to do so.

Scarlett, who had stopped next to Melissa, stopped the girl from saying anything, pointing out, "No. I do not need a second Max."

* * *

 **Solo Confessional: Melissa**

Melissa seemed a little hurt that no one was really paying her much mind, despite her doing what she thought she had to for popularity. After a moment, she gained a determined look on her face, "Right! I'll just try harder! I'll show them how bad-"

An intern slipped into the confessional and said, "Hey! Nice shirt!"

"Awww, thanks!" Melissa replied, as the intern left. She then turned towards the camera and groaned.

* * *

"Will you hurry up?!" Brady asked, frowning, as he turned back towards Lily, who was just walking at a leisurely pace through the studio lot.

Lily shook her head and simply replied, "Better safe than sorry, I believe."

"Better sorry than dead laa _aaaaast!_ " The cowardly jerk suddenly screamed as he fell into a pit that the workers at the studio had built in the ground, landing with a thud.

The prim and proper girl peered down into the whole and smirked, asking, "Oh? You were saying?"

Brady chuckled nervously and rubbed the back of his head, "Will you, uh, help me up?"

"I might be too slow to do so," Lily replied, tilting her head slightly, "Won't I?"

She watched as Charlotte and Jake, who already had their tickets, jogged by. She sighed and reached her hand down into the hole to try and pull Brady back onto the streets of the studio.

* * *

 **Solo Confessional: Lily**

"Of course this place would be boobytrapped," the Native American girl looked down at her fingernails, "I wasn't born yesterday, and I _did_ see the last season. I wouldn't be surprised if this wasn't just the tip of the proverbial iceberg, really."

She then looked at the camera and tilted her head slightly with a sweet smile, "I guess I'll have to shift into high gear then, won't I?"

* * *

Charlotte and Jake continued onwards, before halting in their tracks. To their surprise, a large metal gate was put up in the path in front of them. It looked a little too high to climb up either. Well. For the most part.

"Oh, come on!" Charlotte exclaimed, "We already have our tickets! We're so close to the finish line!"

Jake rose a finger and smiled, saying, "I think I can be of some use. It won't be live, but I _could_ pull out my laptop and try to use Google Earth to get us through."

"Are you sure there'll be wi-fi out here to do that?" the actress asked, tilting her head slightly.

"Of course," the techie replied with a nod, "Even studios need their wi-fi connection, you know!"

* * *

Speaking about teams that already had their tickets, two teams were neck and neck, trying to get closer to the finish line. They just so happened to be Danielle and Kayla VS. Victor and Vanessa.

"Hey, you guys!" the perky goth waved to the other two team members, "How're you guys?"

"Hey, Punky Brewster," Vanessa teased the goth back, "And… Don't ask."

"Yeah," Victor replied, trying to keep up with his teammate who was a little faster than he was, "Don't ask- What the hell's with your hair color?!"

"This'll end well," Danielle spoke, trying to keep up with the others. Vanessa she was fine with, but why did they have to catch up with _Victor_ of all people? The bane of youth in the flesh?

"...Aren't you balding?" Kayla asked back, raising an eyebrow.

" _I AM NOT BALD-AAH!"_

Another earthquake shook the area the two teams were in. Suddenly, the ground began to crack, separating the two teams onto separate street platforms: Danielle and Kayla on one, Vanessa on another, and Victor on yet another.

Victor took one look at Vanessa and yelled, "Ha! Serves you right, missy. I'll just take this chance to get ahead!" With a grunt, he jumped onto safe ground again and took off running towards the finish line once more.

"...Do you think he knows that if he gets there without Vanessa they'll get penalized?" Danielle asked, turning towards Kayla. The goth just shrugged, not knowing the answer to that.

* * *

 **Solo Confessional:** Victor.

"Heheh…" he chuckled nervously, smoothing out what little hair he had, "I seem to've… Overlooked that. Heheh."

* * *

Danielle and Kayla jumped onto Vanessa's platform, the latter extending her hand out to the flirty geek. However, Vanessa looked a little surprised.

"You guys're… helping me?" in a show where backstabbing other teams was made an art, this was an entirely different and unexpected twist to her. A very pleasant one, however.

"Of course," Danielle replied with a smile, before asking, "I don't think either of us have anything against you."

"Exactly-pactly, D's right!" Kayla nodded, faux-sagely, before excitedly moving her hand in front of Vanessa again, "Come on, V! Let's go!"

"'Kay, K," Vanessa teased the goth once more, before turning back to the platforms. With Kayla's hand in one hand, and Danielle's hand in another, the three girls jumped from one platform onto the one Victor was once on. With one more leap, they landed on the safety of the studio path; for now.

"Thanks, you two," Vanessa replied, before giving them a wink, "If I wasn't in a hurry, I'd just kiss both of you."

"I wouldn't mind," Kayla shrugged, non-chalantly. Her own opinion when it came to that was that you only live once.

"You should probably hurry to catch up with Victor," Danielle recommended, before adding, "Before Don decides to give you two a penalty."

"Right," the gamer nodded, before giving the two girls a wave, "You guys don't mind if I run ahead?"

Danielle and Kayla looked at each other and then looked back over at Vanessa and shook their heads, smiling. Nodding to them, Vanessa hurried on, as Danielle and Kayla followed somewhere behind her.

* * *

"Man, this challenge is fun!" Ethan exclaimed, as he and his partner had their tickets, and continued to run through the studio. James gave a grunt of indifference, just watching as more explosions went off around them.

They then noticed that rounding up behind them was a certain nature lover and a certain Popi.

"Sup, guys?" Shakir asked as they became neck and neck with the other team, "Likin' the weather? An overcast of explosions, right?!"

"And a sixty percent chance of doom," Ash added, smirking slightly.

"Only sixty?" Ethan asked, laughing slightly, before being nudged in the ribs by James.

"Are you just gonna let them pass us?" James asked, glaring at the prankster.

The Latino just shook his head and replied, "No… But since we're all together, maybe we should run together! You know! Become buds?"

"Sure," was Shakir's answer. "No," was James's answer.

"Majority rules!" Ethan called, before turning towards Ash, "How about it?"

Ash was quiet for a moment. They couldn't really have a trial alliance or anything this early. And while James seemed pretty moody, neither boy seemed to be worrying to her. So, she just shrugged in response.

* * *

 **Solo Confessional: Ethan**

"You've gotta make friends this season," Ethan told the camera, simply, "You never know when you're stuck with someone else. Plus… I'm pretty sure that Ash and Shakir would help me plan more pranks later! Definitely!" The true reason why he had the idea was unveiled for the world to see.

* * *

Sam and Blaine continued their run to get closer to the finish line in silence. They were doing well, already having their ticket and having dodged the majority of the explosions that rocked the area, as well as the earthquake.

Suddenly, an explosion went off nearby, causing the two boys to stop. They watched as Lexi and Gertrude, standing on a large plank of wood which seemed to be Gertrude's idea, went flying in the sky towards the finish line, cheering from the obviously radical idea.

"When grannies fly," Sam noted in awe, "Huh." Blaine didn't say anything, but simply took a picture of the flying duo.

* * *

 **Solo Confessional: Blaine**

"Man, this is literally the most amazing picture I've taken in a couple of days!" Blaine was looking down at his camera and grinning, "I've _got_ to thank them later!"

* * *

Meanwhile, Jackie and Josh were still struggling to grab their passports, as they jumped from platform to platform. Neither were expecting such an intimidating challenge for their first challenge of all things. But then again, maybe that wasn't _too_ surprising after all.

Finally grabbing their passports, both of them breathed a sigh in relief. Now they would just have to make it back to the end and they'd be finally finished.

"Next time we're on a team, don't jinx us when we're doing a challenge," Jackie joked, nudging Josh slightly.

"I make no promises," Josh replied, causing the two to laugh for a few seconds. Well, until Jackie replied, "No, seriously. Don't."

Don watched as two teams were making their way towards the first Chill Zone. One of the two teams were Rebecca and Rosalina, to his utmost surprise. However, he was even more surprised by the team behind them.

"Nani?!" Rosalina asked in Japanese, "How did- They- Huh?!"

"...We've gotta speed up," Rebecca decided, as none other than Victor and Vanessa were hot on their tails.

"We can't get a penalty this early in the competition!" Vanessa exclaimed, glaring at Victor.

"I slowed down, didn't I?!" the middle aged man asked, between huffing and puffing in exhaustion.

It was then that one of the two teams made it to the chill zone first.

"Rebecca and Rosalina, you've won the first round of the race!" Don announced, before adding, "Victor and Vanessa, so close, yet so far! Second place!"

Rebecca, Rosalina, and Vanessa all cheered for their placements. Victor, however, was less than amused that they didn't score first. Suddenly, he was knocked to the ground by the third place team, Lexi and Gertrude, who fell from above on the plank of wood they were riding on. Everyone fell silent, before the five women cheered once more.

* * *

 **Solo Confessional: Rosalina**

"Huh…" she tapped her lip for a moment, before grinning, "You know…? I could get to shipping Don and Victor-"

"No," Don stuck his head in the confessional, chastising her, "No, no, no. _No._ **No."**

Once he had left, Rosalina whispered to the camera, "I'm totally shipping it."

* * *

The next six teams to arrive, in order, were Kelly and Scarlett, Naoya and Helen, Sam and Blaine, Xavier and Rosa, Ash and Shakir, and James and Ethan.

"See?" Ethan asked, turning to James, "Now was that really that bad?"

James looked from Ethan to Ash and Shakir to back to James once more. He simply replied, "Yes."

Brooke and Junior, Brady and Lily, Danielle and Kayla, and Justin and Tai were the next four contestants to reach the Chill Zone.

"Huh," Don mused as he watched Justin and Tai cross the finish line, "Usually the mute contestants go first."

Tai furrowed his brow at Don. If that was supposed to be a joke, it sure wasn't funny. Justin didn't seem all that amused either.

"I didn't speak much during Total Drama Island," Justin reminded. A few awkward seconds passed before Don went, "So?" Grumbling, Justin went to stand next to the rest of the teams, Tai following after him.

"We made it!" Josh exclaimed as he and Jackie crossed the finish line. Despite all of that, they actually made it to the Chill Zone.

"That leaves Charlotte and Jake, Markus and Liam, and Melissa and Isadora to reach the Chill Zone," Don announced, before asking, "Who will be the next team to-"

"US!"

Don watched as Melissa and Isadora reached the Chill Zone, coming in sixteenth place.

"Weren't you guys a little further ahead than sixteenth place once?" Don asked, raising an eyebrow.

"It's a mystery," Melissa replied, waving her fingers in front of the host, while Isadora just shrugged.

Don shrugged as well, focusing his attention on the last two teams who were finally making their way towards the Chill Zone, "Who will be the last to arrive? Will it be Charlotte and Jake? Or Markus and Liam?"

* * *

 **Team Confessional: Markus and Liam.**

 **"** If I get eliminated first, my mom would have my head," Markus spoke in the confessional, rubbing the back of his neck, "Last place would really suck."

Liam shrugged, "It didn't really matter anyway. They have twenty-six episodes, the last team wouldn't be sent home this episode, I believe."

Markus took a breath of relief and replied, "...True."

* * *

"Markus and Liam, you've made it to the Chill Zone!" Don exclaimed when the two made it to the mat, before turning to Charlotte and Jake who arrived right behind them, "Charlotte and Jake... I'm disappointed... That I _won't_ be sending you home, because this is a non-elimination round!"

"So we had no reason to hurry?" Jake asked, exasperated. But hey. They were safe for another day. That was good.

"Oh, you had a reason," Don chuckled, before turning to the winning team, "When we change teams at the start of the next episode, Rosalina and Rebecca's teams will be the first to get access to the Don Box, which means a headstart towards the airport and the first destination outside of Canada!"

* * *

 **Solo Confessional: Rebecca**

Rebecca smiled lightly and nodded to the camera, "Alright. It looks like my luck's turning around. Now all I can hope for is to take this start and keep scoring well for the rest of the season!" She gave the "Rock on" hand signal to the camera before the camera faded to static.

* * *

 **Solo Confessional: Rosalina**

"Viton?" Rosalina was still thinking about a ship name for Victor and Don, "No... That'd be Victon. Dor-"

"For the last time, I don't want to be shipped with that old man!" Don asked, peering into the confessional cam again.

As he left, the thirteen year old whispered, "He totally does."

* * *

As Don stood in front of the eighteen teams, he began to look straight into the camera and speak, "We've had our warm-up lap on the Ridonculous Race. But next episode, things are for real! Who will be the first team to be eliminated? Stay tuned to... The Ridonculous Race: Stranger Shuffle!" With that, he flashed his signature smile to the camera and ended the episode.

* * *

 **Episode 1 Rankings:**

1st- Rebecca and Rosalina

2nd- Victor and Vanessa

3rd- Lexi and Gertrude

4th- Kelly and Scarlett

5th- Naoya and Helen

6th- Sam and Blaine

7th- Xavier and Rosa

8th- Ash and Shakir

9th- James and Ethan

10th- Brooke and Junior

11th- Brady and Lily

12th- Danielle and Kayla

13th- Justin and Tai

14th- Mitch and Davis

15th- Jackie and Josh

16th- Melissa and Isadora

17th- Markus and Liam

18th- Charlotte and Jake (Non-elimination.)

* * *

 **Remaining contestants:** Ash, Blaine, Brady, Brooke, Charlotte, Danielle, Davis, Ethan, Gertrude, Helen, Isadora, Jackie, Jake, James, Josh, Junior, Justin, Kayla, Kelly, Lexi, Liam, Lily, Markus, Melissa, Mitch, Naoya, Rebecca, Rosa, Rosalina, Sam, Scarlett, Shakir, Tai, Vanessa, Victor, and Xavier.

 **Eliminated contestants:** None as of yet.

* * *

 **And there's the first episode! It was mostly to setup how each character will work in this story, and get a feel of their personalities. Because of this, the challenges from episode two and onward will have a bigger focus and will take up more of the screentime.**

 **How do you think I handled your oc? Don't be afraid to let me know!**

 **Of course, I'd like to know what you thought of the chapter in general as well! What you liked, found interesting, certain teams that worked for you, thoughts on who you think will be the first two characters eliminated, etc. Because next episode, the teams will switch again and I can guarantee that two contestants will be packing their bags (although there _will_ be two chances for characters to return to the competition later.)**

 **Next episode:** Home on the Color Pallet


	4. Episode 2: Home on the Campus

**Hey, everyone! It's time for this week's episode of The Ridonculous Race: Stranger Shuffle! Two contestants will be leaving us today, and it might not be the obvious boot that you all mentioned last week! But read on to find out!**

 **A question I've noticed multiple people ask is whether or not the teams each episode are _really_ randomly generated, and yes, they are! Except for the eliminated team, who is planned before I randomly generate the other teams for the episode.**

 **Now without further adieu, let's start episode two!**

* * *

 **Episode 2:** Home on the Campus

 _(Narrated by Don.)_

"Last time on The Ridonculous Race: Stranger Shuffle. Our thirty-six contestants started out with a bang as they literally maneuvered through minefields at Vancouver Studios!"

"Some teams took the challenge to their own advantage." A clip was shown of Gertrude and Lexi using their plank of wood to fly over the rest of the contestants.

"Some teams had a brush with death!" A clip was shown of Helen pulling Naoya and Xavier pulling Rosa away from the falling tree.

"And some teams started to socialize amongst each other." Ethan, James, Shakir, and Ash were seen all running together.

"But none of that matters, as brand new teams are going to be assigned as we go to the first destination of our race! Who will be the first two contestants to fall? Stay tuned to… The Ridonculous Race: Stranger Shuffle!"

* * *

After the theme song, all eighteen teams were seen standing behind Don, as he exclaimed to the camera, "Welcome back to the Ridonculous Race: Stranger Shuffle, where we'll be having our first Stranger Shuffle of the competition."

An intern wheeled a monitor onto the Chill Zone, as Don explained how the Stranger Shuffle worked, "Here's the deal. Every leg of the competition, the contestants will be put on brand new teams, meaning that every friendship and enemy they make? Counts. Our monitor will be randomly generating the new teams as we speak, giving a new, amazing look into the Ridonculous Race."

As Don spoke, names of all thirty-six contestants quickly flashed across the screen. After a few repeats and a few moments of waiting, a new set of teams flashed onto the screen.

 **Team 1:** Justin, the Male Model and Helen, the Snack Addict

 **Team 2:** Jackie, the Ambitious Artist and Rebecca, the Aspiring Rock Star

 **Team 3:** Lily, the Not-So-Innocent One and Danielle, the Wild Animal Child

 **Team 4:** Davis, the One-Man Acapella Group and Junior, the Comeback Kid

 **Team 5:** Josh, the Tragic Comedian and Melissa, the Failed Manipulator

 **Team 6:** Jake, the Genius Techie and Ethan, the Prankster

 **Team 7:** Scarlett, the Evil Scientist and Vanessa, the Flirty Geek

 **Team 8:** Rosa, the Unintentional Seducer and Naoya, the Company Heir

 **Team 9:** Liam, the Classy Gentleman and Rosalina, the Yaoi Fangirl

 **Team 10:** Lexi, the Flirty Punk and Mitch, the Creepy Shut-In

 **Team 11:** Tai, the Illusionist and Charlotte, the Enthusiastic Actress

 **Team 12:** Xavier, the Ace Detective and Shakir, the Insane Funny Guy

 **Team 13:** Ash, the Nature Lover and James, the Computer Hacker

 **Team 14:** Gertrude, the Thrill-Seeking Grandma and Isadora, the Exuberant Explorer

 **Team 15:** Victor, the Mean Principal and Sam, the Ex-Intern

 **Team 16:** Brady, the Cowardly Jerk and Kayla, the Pastel Goth

 **Team 17:** Markus, the Stressed Workaholic and Kelly, the Over-Preppy Cheerleader

 **Team 18:** Brooke, the Kind-Hearted Bookworm and Blaine, the Aspiring Photographer

As the teams dispersed to join their new teams, several teammates that had grown close (or as close as you could get from one life-threatening challenge) to each other said quick "goodbyes" as teammates such as Lexi and Gertrude, Danielle and Kayla, and Charlotte and Jake.

Once the new teams were lined up, Don announced, stepping aside to reveal the Don Box, "Since Rebecca and Rosalina were the winners of yesterday's challenge, their teams get to be the first ones to access the Don Box and get a headstart on the challenge. So! Jackie and Rebecca, Liam and Rosalina; come on down!"

The four contestants stepped forward, as Jackie pressed her hand down on the Don Box, dispensing the first clue of this leg of the race.

"Get ready to go to the southern end of the USA to make it to Dallas, Texas's airport for your first Botch or Watch," Jackie read off of the tip.

"That's right!" Don exclaimed, as the camera flashed to the city, "Dallas, Texas! Home to Cowboys; the Dallas Cowboys, to be exact! Home to prestigious colleges. Or as prestigious as the South can get. This is the first location outside of Canada for this season."

* * *

 **Solo Confessional: Kelly**

"Dallas?!" Kelly's eyes lit up in glee, " _The_ home to the Dallas Cowboys! And more importantly, home to the Dallas Cowboys Cheerleading Team!"

She then frowned and sighed slightly, "But the last challenge had nothing to do with making movies, so I might as well not get my hopes up." She quickly perked back up, "Right! Okay! S-T-A-Y P-O-S-I-T-I-V-E! Whoo!"

* * *

With that, the teams were off, calling taxis to get to the airport. Before long, they were separated into three flights, each on the path to Dallas, Texas.

The first flight contained: Ash and James, Brady and Kayla, Davis and Junior, Jackie and Rebecca, Liam and Rosalina, and Victor and Sam.

The second flight contained: Jake and Ethan, Justin and Helen, Lily and Danielle, Markus and Kelly, Rosa and Naoya, and Xavier and Shakir.

The third flight contained: Brooke and Blaine, Gertrude and Isadora, Scarlett and Vanessa, Josh and Melissa, Lexi and Mitch, and Tai and Charlotte.

* * *

 **Flight 1.**

"Um… May I ask why you're staring at me like that?"

Rosalina stared intensely at Liam, before looking around the room. Liam rose an eyebrow in confusion; just what was the girl doing?

"How about…" Rosalina spoke up, pausing for a moment, before pointing at Brady who was having an… _animated_ discussion with Kayla, "Him?"

Liam looked over at the other boy before turning back to Rosalina, "What _about_ him, may I ask?" He then took a sip of his water while Rosalina answered.

"To be your boyfriend!"

Liam suddenly spat out his drink, before widening his eyes at Rosalina. "Okay, uh. I don't know how to put this. I'm very much straight."

"...Bummer," she mumbled, rubbing the back of her head.

"Why are you shipping people on this show on the first place?" he asked out of curiosity.

"Well, every reality show needs a matchmaker," Rosalina shrugged and smiled, "So! I put it upon myself to be this season's matchmaker!"

"Are you sure that's a good idea?" the gentleman asked the fangirl, "I mean… That's not really-"

"Hold on, I'll go ask Brady!" the girl stood up and began to walk over to Brady and Kayla, ignoring the fact that Liam was trying to stop her.

Meanwhile, Brady and Kayla weren't getting along… all that well.

"Do you _have_ to take up so much leg room?" the pastel goth asked, looking exasperated at Brady.

Brady stared at Kayla for a moment before smirking and taking up even more leg room, replying with, "Yes."

Kayla scowled, turning up the beat of her loud pop music in her headphones up louder. The quicker that this flight was over and the quicker that this challenge was over, the better. However, she ended up turning her music back down a bit when she saw a certain thirteen year old make her way up to them.

"Hey, hey," Rosalina prodded Brady on the arm to get his attention.

Brady scowled and turned to face the girl, "What'cha want, squirt?"

"I think I've picked out your perfect lover!" she replied with a smile.

"Do tell," Brady's smirk broadened. Of course one of the girls on the show would want a piece of him, he decided.

However, when Rosalina pointed at Liam who facepalmed in return, Brady furrowed his brow and said, "I ain't a-"

"If you finish that sentence, I _will_ throw you off of this plane," Kayla interjected, her glare seeming like it could shoot daggers to kill Brady on the spot.

"Yeah!" Rosalina added, looking just as unamused at the boy.

* * *

 **Solo Confessional: Brady**

Brady crossed his arms and grumbled, "Man, the chicks on this show are the pits. First Lily offers to leave me in a pit and now this. What's next?" He paused for a second before saying, "Don't answer that."

* * *

 **Solo Confessional: Kayla**

"Brady needs a serious attitude adjustment," Kayla said, crossing her arms as she stared at the camera, "Either he fixes it or the show does, that's for damn sure."

* * *

 **Solo Confessional: Rosalina**

Rosalina was seen scribbling in a notepad, saying, "Note to self. Don't ship Brady with anyone." She paused for a second, before saying, "Except for other guys who may annoy me in the future."

* * *

"You got to sing with Pentatonix?!" Junior exclaimed in awe at Davis's achievement.

Davis nodded and gave a grin, "Of course! I _am_ the Lord of Acapella, after all!"

"So, how was it?" Junior asked, his excitement growing from the idea of Davis meeting one of his favorite "bands" of sort at one point.

" _Wonderful~"_ was Davis's musical response.

"Radical," was the thirteen year old's amused response. The two continued to talk amusedly between each other, as James watched on.

"I can barely hear myself think," he gruffly said to them.

Davis arched an eyebrow at the computer hacker, "There's twelve of us on this plane, I'm pretty sure we're not the only ones being loud, you know."

James gave a grunt and turned back to his computer, as his partner woke from a short nap with a yawn.

"We in Dallas yet?" Ash asked, looking around the area.

James amusedly exhaled out of his nostrils and said, "Nope."

"They sure do make this a lot more fastpaced on the show," she mused, stretching and sitting up, "But then again, it _is_ a pretty long flight from Vancouver to Dallas."

The computer hacker gave a shrug, "Gives me time to do some offline work. No distractions with wifi or anything either."

"Shouldn't you be enjoying the sights instead of messing on your computer?" she asked, peering over at his work.

"No thanks," was his simple, blunt response.

* * *

 **Team Confessional: Ash and James.**

"We're both obviously 'you don't bother me, and I won't bother you,' type of people," Ash spoke about why the two of them were getting along reasonably well, "I can respect that. So we _should_ work well together in the challenge."

"Or the very least not get eliminated," James added, looking up from his laptop.

* * *

"Alright, let's put it together!" Rebecca exclaimed with some excitement, as she readied her fingers on her guitar. Jackie nodded and cleared her throat, prepping her voice to sing along with the girl. Opening her mouth, as Rebecca played the instrumentals, Jackie sang in a powerful soprano:

" _Is this the real life?_

 _Is this just fantasy?_

 _Caught in a landslide,_

 _No escape from reality._

 _Open your eyes,_

 _Look up to the skies and see,_

 _I'm just a poor boy, I need no sympathy,_

 _Because I'm easy come, easy go,_

 _Little high, little low,_

 _Anyway the wind blows doesn't really matter to me, to me."_

Suddenly, Davis's voice joined in:

" _Mama, just killed a man,_

 _Put a gun against his head,_

 _Pulled my trigger, now he's dead._

 _Mama, life had just begun,_

 _But now I've gone and thrown it all away._

 _Mama, ooh,_

 _Didn't mean to make you cry,_

 _If I'm not back again this time tomorrow,_

 _Carry on, carry on as if nothing really matters."_

Jackie and Rebecca, pleasantly surprised from Davis's sudden join in, looked at each other before looking at him. Junior and Sam, who were by their respective partners, clapped a little bit for the three musicians.

* * *

 **Team Confessional: Jackie and Rebecca**

"If I didn't already have a band, I totally would have gotten you two to be part of one in an _instant_ ," the rock star praised Jackie, " _Shivers._ "

Jackie smiled and nodded to Rebecca, saying, "And if I wasn't so busy with everything else, I would have quickly took you up on that."

* * *

"Man, that was something else," Sam stated to no one in particular in amusement. Victor, however, didn't seem all that amused by the three's showing.

"All it did was give me a headache," he grumbled, crossing his arms, "You kids today and your ro-"

"Okay, dude," Sam interrupted Victor, "I can promise you that you wouldn't have lasted a _day_ on Total Drama."

"What did you just say to me, boy?" Victor asked, glaring at the ex-intern.

"Exactly what I said," Sam replied, crossing his arms, "All you do is whine and complain instead of focusing on the competition. And I'm not going to be eliminated first because of your shit."

"How dare you say that to me!" the principal shouted, standing up from his seat and glaring at Sam, "I came in second place in the challenge!"

"No," Rebecca, who was listening to the argument, shook her head, "You and Vanessa were arguing. You easily could have been the first person eliminated, you know."

Victor sputtered for a second before glaring at the rocker and walking off to complain to the stewardess. Rebecca got up from her seat, since Jackie was currently talking to Blaine and Junior, going to walk over to Sam and sitting down next to him.

"He's the worst, huh?" she asked, laughing slightly.

"Tell me about it," Sam replied, rolling his eyes, "But I've gotta put up with him until this challenge is over. I'm not getting eliminated even if it means basically carrying this guy to the finish line."

"I'd do the same, honestly," she replied with a nod, "I mean, he's definitely going to make a lot of people who might want to just throw the challenge to spite him if they think the challenges are too rough."

"True," he replied with a nod before asking, "Hey, question. How long have you been playing the guitar?"

"My grandma taught me to play and gave me my first guitar," she explained, "Been playing ever since. But I do sing too, honestly."

"Radical," Sam replied with a grin, "What kind of music do you like anyway?"

"Are you sure you want this question because I can talk about it all day," was Rebecca's teasing retort.

* * *

 **Solo Confessional: Sam.**

"Okay, I'm amending that confessional from last chapter," Sam spoke, "Rebecca is more than just _kinda_ cute."

* * *

 **Flight 2.**

"H-hey!"

Kelly had taken Markus's notepad away from him, shaking her head slightly, "No. You're supposed to be having fun! Not doing schoolwork!"

"But if I don't get it done-"

"The world won't end," she shook her head, "I'm not writing an apocalyptic cheer, you know! ...Yet."

Markus sighed. Maybe Kelly was right. Maybe he should try to enjoy _some_ of the competition. But he still needed to get his current essay done for his mom before it got too late.

"Before this challenge is over, I'll be getting you to have some… F-U-N!" Kelly determined, spelling that out for him.

"Why?" Markus asked, raising an eyebrow, "I mean… I'm still gonna be stressed out."

Kelly shrugged, "Because people aren't supposed to be so worked up like this. Yeah, this is a competition. Yeah, you have work to do. But it's still a trip around the _globe_! That's _huge_."

Markus was about to reply when Rosa and Naoya made their way over to them, Rosa having somehow clung herself to Naoya's arm.

"...Is this how people greet others in the 'real world?'" Naoya asked, using fingerquotes to do so, "Hold onto each other's arms?"

Kelly laughed and shook her head, "Not really, no."

Rosa let go of Naoya and apologized, "Uh, sorry about that."

Naoya just shrugged dismissively before asking Markus, "I heard you guys were on an adventure for fun?"

"Well-"

"You bet your bottom dollar, rich kid!" Kelly interrupted, giving him a thumbs up.

"Perfect!" he replied with a nod, "If it's alright, I'll partake in this too!" Of course, Kelly just nodded her head eagerly.

* * *

 **Team Confessional: Markus and Kelly**

"All aboard the fun train!" the optimistic cheerleader exclaimed excitedly, "Now boarding: Kelly, Markus, Naoya, and Rosa!"

She looked over at Markus expectantly, who gave an unsure, "Choo choo?"

* * *

 **Team Confessional: Rosa and Naoya**

"I've never really gotten to experience fun like the rest of the people my age," Naoya explained, rubbing the back of his neck, "So it'd be nice to just… get away from my life and do some things I've never done before."

"Might as well," Rosa agreed with a shrug, "While everything's really chill in the competition anyway."

* * *

"Okay, okay," Jake asked with a wave of his hand, "Ethan, tell me again why you're doing this?"

While Xavier and Shakir were on another part of the plane talking to a stewardess, Ethan had set up a low trip wire in the aisle of the plane, with a banana creme pie ready to be pushed out when Xavier fell.

"I told you!" the prankster replied, "Xavier's a detective, right?"

"...Right," Jake replied with a nod.

"Well, if Xavier's as good as he supposedly says he is, he'll either end up figuring a way past it or not at all," Ethan explained the point of his idea, "You know! Testing his skills."

Jake gave a light, "Ah," before turning back to his computer, "Just… try to not get yourself or him killed, alright?"

"Aye, aye, captain!" Ethan teased, saluting Jake, as he went back to work. However, Jake, not too sure about this, stood up and stepped over the trip wire, going to warn Xavier of the prank.

Meanwhile, a stewardess was keeping Shakir from getting to the pilot's quarters. Xavier, ever the vigilant snarker, was nearby to witness all of it.

"Come onnnn," Shakir urged the stewardess, "Just let me fly it a _little-_ "

"I think not!" the stewardess replied, "Passengers are not allowed into that area!"

"What could go wrong?" Shakir asked with a shrug.

"Everything," Xavier dryly commented for the stewardess, "Everything could go wrong."

As Shakir and the stewardess began to argue again, Xavier was tapped on the shoulder by the competition's resident genius techie.

"May I help you, Mr. Jake?" Xavier asked, tilting his head slightly.

"It's Ethan," Jake replied, "He's setting up a prank for you, so I decided to warn you."

"A prank for me?" Xavier asked, raising his brows slightly, sarcastically saying, "He shouldn't have. I guess I shouldn't keep him waiting, should I?"

"Huh?" Jake asked, widening his eyes, "Wha- You're gonna go over to it?"

"Of course," Xavier replied, putting a hand into his blazer pocket, "When someone offers a challenge to me, there's no way I'm going to ignore it, after all."

* * *

 **Solo Confessional: Jake**

"It's a prank, not a challenge," Jake spoke, shaking his head, "Although, it _could_ be a personal challenge from Ethan to Xavier, but that's very unlikely."

* * *

 **Solo Confessional: Xavier**

"Back at home, my family tests each other's deductive skills by setting up mock 'trials' for each of us to overcome," Xavier explained, as he cleaned off his glasses, "This is just like another of those trials. And since I'm a competitive soul, I can't say no to a good challenge."

* * *

Ethan kept an eye out as he hid under the seats, ready to slide the banana creme pie out when Xavier'd make his way through. He watched as the sight of Xavier's shoes passed by his vision. He watched a shoe touch the tripwire, alongside an exaggerated scream.

Ethan then slid out the pie, only to see a shoe land in the middle of it.

Xavier had flung his shoe off and exaggerated his voice to trick Ethan into activating part two of his prank too early. Ethan crawled out from under the seats and asked the detective, "How did you-"

"Elementary," was Xavier's response, "I have the eyes of a hawk. ...And I could have seen that wire coming a mile away."

Shakir, who had caught up to his partner, added, "I have the eyes of a hawk, too! Wanna see?" Xavier didn't reply and just looked at Shakir with half-lidded eyes.

* * *

 **Solo Confessional: Ethan**

"He's not all that bad," Ethan mused in surprise, before grinning, "Like… Wow, at all. Gonna have an interesting prank war with him around for sure!"

* * *

Meanwhile, two other contestants were sitting by themselves for a few different reasons. They were teammates, they were reality show veterans, but more importantly?

They were forming an alliance.

"And if I team up with you, I'll be safe, right?" Justin asked, arching an eyebrow at the blonde.

"Of course!," Helen replied, adjusting her taking another bite of a piece of candy, "I am a woman of my word for the most part. And I do want to win this competition as much as you do."

Justin tapped his perfect lips for a moment before saying, "You have a good point. Alright. We'll team up."

"Perf-"

"Under a few conditions," Justin interrupted her with a dazzling smile.

"..ect," she finished, her tone lowering, "Alright. What exactly do you want?"

"I'll be your muscle, but I cannot injure any of the body parts I use for modeling," he continued, "My face, hands, arms, legs, butt, anything in the chestal region-"

"I get it," she interrupted him, before asking, "Anything else?"

"Oh, there's a _lot_ more," he replied with a nod. She grumbled under her breath, "Great."

While Justin and Helen had a lot to say to each other, Danielle found herself with quiet silence as she sat beside Lily who was currently reading a book.

"You're a quiet one, I suppose," Danielle mused aloud, just wanting to see if her teammate would finally speak.

"I am in some ways," the prim and proper girl replied with a nod, "I guess that I often become wrapped up in my own solitude, so to speak."

"Oh," Danielle replied, before smiling and standing up, "I think I'll go walk around and let you read then. Is that okay?"

"That's just fine," Lily gave a sweet smile and tilted her head slightly to her teammate.

The British girl nodded to her teammate and went to walk on. However, when she walked on, she found herself tripping over a previously laid down tripwire, only to be stopped from falling by a hand on her shoulder.

"Aww, I coulda done the pie thing again," Ethan half-laughed, half-fake pouted.

"I duly apologize, mate," Xavier's response was inbetween sincere and sarcastic to Ethan before he turned towards Danielle, "I assume you're alright"

Danielle nodded and smiled, "Yep! I think it'd take a little more than a trip to the floor to take me down."

"That's good," Xavier released her shoulder, before turning back to Ethan, "Perhaps we should pick the wire up."

"No way, dude, what if someone else comes through?" Ethan asked, shaking his head.

"What are you guys doing, anyway?" Danielle asked curiously.

"Pranks," Ethan said simply. Xavier added, "Analyzing Ethan's pranks."

"Ah," she replied with a nod before asking, "Mind if I join you guys?"

Neither of the boys seemed to disagree and just simply nodded in confirmation.

* * *

 **Solo Confessional: Danielle**

"I don't know what it is," Danielle mused for a second, "but Lily's a little… different? I don't know. I think she's nice, but something about her is strangely distant. Maybe the rest of this challenge will give her time to actually open up to someone on here."

Changing the subject, Danielle said, "But surprisingly, Xavier's actually really nice from what I can tell! Ethan, too. I could probably hang around them pretty well."

* * *

 **Flight 3.**

"Thanks so much for letting me see your photos," Brooke told Blaine humbly, "I could definitely get some extra ideas from this."

"Thanks for saying you wanted to see my photos," the photographer replied, "I love it when fellow artists appreciate my work."

"Well, I'm not exactly an artist," Brooke replied, tucking a loose strand of hair behind her ear as she looked through the rest of his photos for inspiration.

"I'm pretty sure writing's an art, you know," was Blaine's simple retort, "I think anything could be an art, really."

"Like that?" Brooke asked, looking up and pointing at Charlotte and Tai.

"Oh, definitely," Blaine replied with a laugh.

As another wave of ashes faded, Charlotte spoke to Tai, "I don't know why Don said that to you. You _can_ talk, you know!"

Tai dug in his ashes again, before flinging them out, the sparks spelling out, " _Of course I can talk. But then again, I'm used to people being closed-minded about this."_

"You shouldn't be!" Charlotte replied, shaking her head and crossing her arms, "That's not fair to you at all! You're a magician! A talented one! Not someone to just write off because you can't speak!"

Tai made a noise similar to a chuckle before bowing overdramatically.

"But now I'm curious," she added, placing her hands on her lap, "How do you _do_ that?"

Tai just smiled an enigmatic smile and shrugged. It was magic, after all.

* * *

 **Team Confessional: Charlotte and Tai**

"Oh, come on, you can tell me!" Charlotte playfully nudged her teammate and asked, "I won't tell anyone. Promise!"

Tai dug in his hat again and sprayed another cloud of igniting ashes which spelled out, " _A magician never reveals his secrets."_

"...Touche," the actress conceded, laughing a bit.

* * *

"Wow, dearest," Gertrude gave a whistle in awe, "To think that you got to climb that in just that length of time."

Isadora rubbed the back of her neck and laughed, "Oh, it's nothing, Mrs. Gertrude."

The granny shook her head and implored, "No, it's definitely something. There's a lot of things I'd do, but I wouldn't hike up a mountain like that. The last thing I need is to fall and break a hip and be put out of commission for a few weeks. I _hate_ hospitals."

"Well, I could give you the name of some casually friendly hiking trails if you want!" Isadora said, excitedly, "I have a lot of them and I don't exactly have a lot of people that's as into these kinds of things as I am!"

"Hit me with 'em, sprout," Gertrude gave a grin, "And then hopefully I can work myself up to your level."

"Maybe we can do some hiking together then," she suggested.

"That'd be nice, dearie," the daredevil granny sweetly replied, before digging through her purse, "Now it's in here somewhere…"

Meanwhile, behind them was none other than Josh and Melissa, who surprisingly were getting along quite well.

"And then I tell him," Josh set up his punchline, "'That's not a tortoise, that's your wife!'"

Melissa burst into laughter, before saying, "It's funny because he married a tortoise!"

"Exactly," Josh laughed slightly at the strange girl before asking, "Yo, you seem to be a lot happier than yesterday, I noticed?"

Melissa sat there for a moment before shaking her head and crossing her arms, "Well. Bad girls have to have fun times too, right?"

"Bad girls?" he asked, arching an eyebrow before stopping, "Oh, right. Evil villain. You told me that."

"You don't believe me, do you?" she asked.

"That's not quite what I meant," he shook his head, "I just-"

"Ooh, I know how I could show you!" she jumped up and ran to another part of the plane, causing Josh's eyes to widen in alarm. It was then that he noticed Isadora looking back over at him.

"So you believe she's… good?" Isadora asked, tentatively.

"Well, I don't think she _means_ any harm," Josh replied, shaking his head, "She's just… Uh…"

"Melissa," Gertrude added, knowingly, "She's just looking for her place in life if I had any guess. So she's just herself."

"Yeah," Josh grinned and nodded to the granny, "That's exactly it."

Isadora looked contemplative for a moment before nodding. Josh jumped up and said, "Wait, I should probably stop her before she causes something bad to happen. Hey, Melissa- _Wait, where did you go?"_

* * *

 **Team Confessional: Gertrude and Isadora**

"Maybe I should have given Melissa the benefit of a doubt," Isadora mused for a moment, "I mean, this isn't like me at all. I just… She could end up being one of the villains around here, you know?"

"Anyone could, dearie; but I believe everything will be just fine- _aha_!" Gertrude pulled out a whole handful of hard candy, offering them to Isadora, "Hard candy?"

* * *

 **Solo Confessional: Josh**

"Melissa's not bad, I don't think," Josh shook his head, "She just seems to be looking for attention in the exact wrong places. Maybe with some time, she'll change her mind about being a villain since she's about as villainous as Snow White at this point."

* * *

"Mitch!" Lexi had called out for her partner. Ever since they boarded the plane, she had no idea whatsoever of where he went. She continued to call out for him, before Vanessa who was originally talking to Scarlett decided to look over at her.

"Honey, what's wrong?" she asked, raising an eyebrow in confusion.

"I haven't seen Mitch _anywhere_ ," Lexi replied, exasperated, "You know? We're probably going to land in another hour or so, but I haven't seen him since we _boarded_ this stupid plane."

"With any luck, we left him back in Vancouver," Scarlett mused, before shrugging, "Well, I guess nothing of value was lost."

"If Mitch is still in Vancouver, then that means that I'm going to be eliminated," Lexi crossed her arms and frowned at the redhead.

"...Then nothing of value was lost- Ugh!" Scarlett was suddenly elbowed in the ribs by Vanessa, who glared at her.

"I'm sure he's around here somewhere, Lexi," Vanessa reassured the punk, "He's probably somewhere praying to satan or… whatever Mitch's do."

Lexi frowned, but nodded, "Still. I wanna make sure that he's _somewhere_ on this plane. Mitch!" With that, she called out for Mitch again.

* * *

 **Solo Confessional: Lexi**

"Okay, Helen might've been on a reality show, but she can drop the 'better than everyone' act she has," Lexi rolled her eyes and crossed her arms, "Because she's not. She didn't even _win_ her competition, now did she?"

* * *

 **Team Confessional: Scarlett and Vanessa.**

"Seriously, Scarlett," Vanessa looked up from her 3DS and shook her head at the scientist, "Do you really want to become the next _Victor_?"

Scarlett was quiet for a moment before sighing and mumbling, "No."

* * *

"Mitch!" "Melissa!"

Lexi and Josh paused and looked over at each other when they saw that both of them were calling out for their teammates.

"Seriously, we should glue our teammates to our side," he joked, grinning slightly.

Lexi smirked and nodded, "Seriously. I mean, Mitch basically just… _appears_ so that doesn't necessarily work for me, so…"

"Yeah, true," Josh shrugged and nodded, "But it'd be worth a shot, I guess."

"How did you lose yours anyway?" Lexi asked, "I mean, I can see me losing Mitch. But I'm pretty sure Melissa could stand out from the crowd pretty well."

"I was gonna follow after her, but then I talked to Gertrude and Isadora, and… _poof,_ " Josh gave a wave of his hands to signify that Melissa had disappeared.

"Good luck, then," Lexi encouraged with a wink, "You're gonna need it, funnyboy."

"Will do," he replied, about to go look for Melissa again, "Right back at'cha!" As he went to go look for Melissa in another compartment, Lexi turned to face Mitch standing right beside her, jumping a bit from his sudden appearance.

"You rang?" was his only monotone reply.

The first flight finally landed in Dallas, Texas, as the first six teams got off and made a mad dash for the Don Box, with Davis and Junior pulling ahead of the rest to receive the tip first. To everyone's surprise, the Don Box was on one of Dallas's college campuses; or right outside of it.

"The person holding this tip will participate in the Botch or Watch," Davis read it off to Junior, "They must paint their partner using watercolors and show it to the resident art teacher to move on."

"Can you draw?" Junior asked the singer in curiosity.

"We're fixing to find out, huh?" Davis replied, chuckling slightly.

* * *

 **Solo Confessional: Junior**

"So even the _challenges_ are going to be assigned by the luck of the draw?" Junior asked, surprised, "Man, if I think a challenge is gonna be dangerous, I'm definitely not taking any Don Box tips."

* * *

The artistry began. Ash was painting James, Brady was painting Kayla, Davis was painting Junior, Jackie was painting Rebecca, Liam was painting Rosalina, and Sam was painting Victor. For a first Botch or Watch, they were all glad that they weren't having to do something dangerous yet.

"Would it kill you to smile?" Ash joked, looking up from her painting to look at her subject.

"Yes," was James's deadpan response, as he looked up from his laptop. If he had to pose, he might as well finish this last code first. Regardless, Ash rolled her eyes and went back to painting once more.

Junior, noticing Ash's question, stopped posing for a second to ask, "Davis, you're the artist! Is there anything you need for it?"

"Not that I'm aware of," Davis shook his head and said, "I'll be done soon, promise." Junior nodded, and crossed his arms again, trying to do a cool kid pose, but he ended up accidentally falling over while doing so.

"Will 'ya hurry it up?!" Victor complained, his own arms crossed in anger at his teammate, Sam, "I ain't gettin' any older!"

"With all luck, you'll get a heart attack," Sam mumbled, not even looking away from his painting.

"What'd you say?!"

Rosalina, who was posing for Liam by using two peace signs, mentioned, "See?! He's _perfect_ for Don!"

"I'm perfect for who now?!" Victor asked, turning towards the girl, fuming.

"I agree," was Sam's only reply, as he continued to work on his painting.

"You _agree?!_ " once again Victor burst out into another outburst of annoyance, but his teammate wasn't listening, deciding to simply tune the man out for his own benefit.

Meanwhile, Rebecca and Kayla were talking to each other while they were getting themselves painted by Brady and Jackie respectively.

"I heard you guys playing Queen earlier," Kayla brought up, her hands up in peace signs for her photo, "It was pretty nice!"

Rebecca, meanwhile, was strumming her guitar and laughed, nodding to Kayla, "I'd play you something but… I have no absolute idea what kind of music you'd listen to."

"Shitty music…" Brady mumbled as he continued his painting. Kayla rolled her eyes at the boy before shrugging at Rebecca, "Isn't it obvious? Bubblegum pop."

"See?" Brady added, "Shitty music."

"You should be painting, not grumbling," Jackie spoke to the boy, looking up from her work, "Or don't. Less competition for us."

* * *

 **Team Confessional: Brady and Kayla**

"What'd I say?" Brady asked, crossing his arms and grunting, "An-noy-ing. And that purple haired freak is one of the worst of 'em."

Kayla stared at Brady flatly before saying, "I'm sitting _right_ next to you, I know."

Brady inhaled, crossed his arms, and smirked, "I know." All Kayla did was roll her eyes in response.

* * *

The second plane finally touched down, the second set of contestants arriving to begin the challenge. Justin would be painting Helen, Lily would be painting Danielle, Rosa would be painting Naoya, Markus would be painting Kelly, Jake would be painting Ethan, and Xavier would be painting Shakir.

"Why can't _I_ be the one who gets a portrait painted of them?" Justin asked, whining all the while, "After all, I'm definitely a better visage than _her._ "

Helen, who was posing with her chef's hat on, narrowed her eyes at Justin, "And what exactly do you mean by that?"

"Oh, no offense," Justin reassured, before saying something absolutely offensive, "It's just that _anyone_ compared to me looks _way_ below average, you know?"

"...Excuse me?" Helen furrowed her brow and crossed her arms, "And just _who_ are _you_? I was a contestant on-"

Justin looked up from his canvas and said, "Please. The only reality show that counts other than this one is Total Drama."

"... _Excuse me?!_ "

As Helen and Justin began to fight, Danielle watched them do so as Lily continued to paint her.

"Wow," she mused, "That escalated really, _really_ quickly, didn't it?"

"It did," Lily mused with a nod, "However, it was inevitable, don't you think?"

Danielle arched an eyebrow for a moment before realizing exactly what Lily meant, "Their egos… Right. When two egos are put in the same room, they'll definitely clash before the day's over."

"Absolutely," Lily smiled lightly as she twisted the paintbrush between her index fingers, "But we seem to get along fine for the most part, Miss Danielle. Of that, I have noticed."

"We have," Danielle's answer was between a statement and a question. Lily was extremely hard to read, but hey. If the girl enjoyed Danielle's company, that was fine with her. But what did that even have to do with clashing egos?

Finally shrugging and moving back to her smiling pose, Danielle watched Lily continue to work away.

"Finished!" Davis turned the painting around to show the painter what he had done. It was just a simple visage of what seemed to be Junior, but it got the job done. The painter gave the singer the next tip, letting the two move on.

"What's it say?" Junior asked, walking over to his partner and peering over his shoulder.

"The next challenge is… a cheerleader challenge?" Davis asked, in surprise, "Apparently we have to get in cheerleader getups and go cheer for one of the Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders."

Junior groaned, "Great. A challenge we don't care about. But… what's her name… Kelly? She might."

"It might be fun," Davis disagreed with the younger boy, before nodding, "Alright! Let's hit it!"

The two boys ran on, passing by Kelly who could barely contain herself in joy, "Yes! Y-E-S! This next challenge was _made_ for me! C'mon, Markus, finish up so we can strut our stuff!"

"I've… never done cheerleading before," Markus said, walking over to the artist to give him the painting. Markus was already pretty good at art he had to admit, so it was obvious that the art teacher would give them their next tip, not that they necessarily needed it.

Kelly grinned and nodded, "I promise you right now, it's going to be amazing! Hey, Naoya! Rosa! You two coming?!"

Rosa got her thumbs up for her drawing of the rich kid, before she turned to face the cheerleader and the workaholic, "Uh, yeah! We're coming!" She followed after the duo, Naoya trailing along behind them.

Xavier looked away from his work for a second to watch the four continue onto the next challenge, as he finally looked back to Shakir and dryly asked, "This might be a dumb question, but… do you _have_ to have me paint you naked?"

"He said for you to paint your partner like one of those French girls," Shakir shrugged, as he posed on the ground, for some reason nude.

"That is most definitely _not_ what he said," Xavier rolled his eyes, but continued to paint his partner, regardless.

"Seriously, man," Jake added in agreement, looking away from Ethan for a moment, "Put your clothes back on."

Shakir sighed and grumbled while he did just that.

Meanwhile, Ethan was holding a gigantic fake spider and was pretending to look horrified for it, for what seemed to be longer than a lot of people could have assumed he would have been able to do.

"Your face will freeze that way," Xavier warned, slightly, "Why can't you just pose normally? _Either_ of you for that matter?"

Ethan moved from his pose and grinned, "Oh come on, Sherlock. What's wrong with having fun?"

"Nothing is wrong with having fun," he agreed, simply, chuckling at the prankster lightly, "I just believe that when the competition is going, everyone should be giving their all. Their all's all, if you will."

"Yeah, same," Jake nodded, before asking Ethan, "Can you please hold up a prop that isn't _that_ hard to draw, man?"

Ethan sighed and said, "Fiiiine," digging around in his backpack for a different prop.

* * *

 **Solo Confessional: Shakir**

"How much of an all would it take to give your all when all of your all has already been given to prove to someone that your all's all is all?" Shakir asked, before nodding "sagely," "Yeah. That's _exactly_ what I was thinking too."

* * *

The third plane touched down, as the last twelve contestants arrived to compete in the first challenge. Josh would be painting Melissa, Lexi was painting Mitch, Gertrude was painting Isadora, Scarlett was painting Vanessa, Charlotte was painting Tai, and Brooke was painting Blaine.

"So, you've got my good side?" the photographer joked at the bookworm as she continued to paint him.

"I think so," she quietly nodded, musing over what she had so far, "Or at least, I think so!"

"No worries, Brooke," he encouraged her, "Take all the time you need. There's several teams still working, so we're fine."

"Right," she nodded, determined, before turning and noticing that Charlotte was also giving her absolute all in the challenge, "Hey, Charlotte? Why are you working so hard on this? You might wear yourself out."

"I heard what Don said to Tai last challenge," was the simple, sincere reply from the actress, "And I'm not going to fulfill his little prophecy about Tai going first just because he's mute. No way."

Blaine watched the two work together in awe, Tai posing dramatically as Charlotte worked away. Despite only knowing each other for a few hours, Charlotte had decided to give it her all so Tai wouldn't be eliminated. And from the thankful expression on the magician's face, it was easy to tell that Tai was grateful. Catching a gaze from Tai, he nodded, determining to himself that they'd work even harder too. They wouldn't lose, if he had anything to say about it.

Meanwhile, Scarlett was scowling as she had to listen to Gertrude, Isadora, and Vanessa chit-chat while she worked. Gertrude was taking her leisurely time but still working, while Isadora and Vanessa were just having a good time talking with each other and with the granny.

"You guys are alright!" Vanessa exclaimed with a smile, "We should definitely hang out more later."

"Oh, you've got it!" Isadora gave the girl a thumbs up, "Maybe we'll end up on each other's teams later!"

"I'd love that, just let me say," was Vanessa's reply, giving the explorer a wink.

Scarlett muttered under her breath as she painted, "Will you all just shut up and let me work?"

"Come on, dearie," Gertrude nudged at Scarlett, "Live a little! Make some friends!"

"The only friend I need is that million dollar cash prize," Scarlett scoffed, rolling her eyes.

"You mean half a million," Vanessa corrected, furrowing her brows.

"...Yes, of course," was Scarlett's reply, but of course Vanessa didn't seem convinced of this.

* * *

 **Solo Confessional: Vanessa**

"If I get to the finale, can I at least have a chill partner to work with?" she asked, rolling her eyes slightly.

* * *

While Josh was painting Melissa, every once in a while he found himself getting off track and looking over to see what Lexi and Mitch were doing. Melissa, finally a little tired of constantly having to redirect Josh's attention, gave a sigh.

"Okay, comedy boy," she said, snapping her fingers and smiling, "Do I have to give you some incentive to finish this challenge?"

Josh turned back towards the "manipulator" confusedly, repeating, "Incentive?"

"You know," she nodded coyly, "An alliance."

"In a game where we can be switched up at any time?" he asked, shaking his head, "Not yet, man."

Melissa sighed and asked, "Could you at least humor me and say you'll think about it?"

Josh mused for a second before nodding, "Hey, sure. Why the hell not?"

"Yes!" she exclaimed, pumping her fist, singing in a singsong voice, "Alliance, alliance~!"

"I said I'd _think_ about it," he tried to remind her, but she was way too excited to care anything about that.

Meanwhile, the conversation between Lexi and Mitch had reached a standstill. Mitch wasn't the most talkative contestant ever and just preferred to stand there, unmoving as his partner painted him.

"So… are you excited for the competition?" the punk asked, wanting to break _some_ of the awkward silence.

"Not especially."

"Eh, don't blame you," she shrugged her shoulders, "Think we're gonna win this?"

"Not especially."

"...Do you want to talk about _anything_ ," she asked, knitting her brows together.

Of course, the answer was, "Not especially."

* * *

 **Solo Confessional: Lexi**

Lexi had her arms crossed and was shaking her head, "Mitch is… something. But at least he sticks around for the challenges. Otherwise, people would probably get rid of him in an instant."

* * *

"Nine teams have moved onto the cheerleading challenge," Don's voice narrated, "But some seem to be a lot happier than the others."

Indeed, the following teams had made it to the cheerleading challenge: Ash and James, Davis and Junior, Gertrude and Isadora, Jackie and Rebecca, Jake and Ethan, Lexi and Mitch, Markus and Kelly, Rosa and Naoya, and Xavier and Shakir.

However, since most teams had only one male uniform and one female uniform, some teams had to make do with what they had.

"Why do I have to be the one in the skirt?" Junior asked, crossing his arms annoyedly.

"Because it fits you better than I do, Junior," Davis replied with a shrug, "It's not all that bad."

Junior mumbled under his breath, "Yes, it is."

"Dearie," Gertrude, who was wearing the male cheerleader uniform encouraged the young boy, "There really is nothing that bad about it."

"Yeah!" Isadora added with a nod and a hand on her hip, "I can promise you that you look really rad, Junior!"

"...If you say so…" the thirteen year old rubbed his arm awkwardly.

Meanwhile, Jake and Xavier, also wearing the female cheerleading uniforms, seemed a lot more comfortable with it than Junior did.

Ethan gave a whistle at the two boys, teasing them, especially Xavier with a wink, "Looking good, fellas!"

"My slim legs _do_ pull off this skirt quite well," was Xavier's simple answer, not seeming phased in the least.

* * *

 **Solo Confessional: Xavier**

"I see no problem with this, honestly; any true man would agree with me," the detective in the cheerleading outfit sat in the confessional with his legs crossed, "In fact, I quite like it. I'd prefer it in red, but I guess I can deal with the Cowboys's colors."

* * *

 **Team Confessional: Jake and Ethan.**

"This isn't the… _most_ comfortable thing I've ever wore," the techie shook his head, "But this is a challenge. And I'm not going to get a penalty just because I didn't want to wear it- put that water balloon down or _you'll_ be wearing it, man."

Ethan put away his water balloon and sighed, "Yeah, yeah, I gotcha."

* * *

"Who's first?" the blonde cheerleader who was hosting the next challenge asked now that the first nine contestants had gotten their uniforms on.

"Us!" Kelly exclaimed, raising her hand in the air, "But first, let me say that I'm an absolute _huge_ fan!"

The cheerleader smiled and nodded, "Awwww, thanks! Alright! Give us what y'all've got!"

While Kelly looked sure and excited to start up their cheer, Markus didn't seem very sure at all, saying, "Uh… I have no idea where to even start. What do we-"

"Don't worry about it, partner," Kelly reassured him with a determined nod, "Just follow what I do and trust me!"

"But-"

"Look," she interrupted him with a grin, "Trust me. We're teammates. I won't let you make a fool of yourself on national TV if I can help it. Like, trust me!"

Markus was silent for a moment, before nodding determinedly, "Right… Right! I'll trust you." He didn't have much of a choice anyway, he figured.

The two walked in front of the rest of the teams and the girl holding the challenge.

"1, 2, 3, 4!" Kelly exclaimed, as she moved her pom poms around, hitting each pose with absolute precision. Markus did his very best to mimic what Kelly was doing to the best of his ability.

"R-I-D-O-N!" she called out before spinning swiftly and pointing at Markus.

"Uh, C-U-L-O-U-S…?" Markus replied, doing the same and spinning to point right back at her.

"That's the race; the race to the million!" she exclaimed, before doing a cartwheel. To everyone's shock, the cartwheel turned, as Kelly began to a series a backflips and frontflips. As she continued to do so, she began to go towards Markus as if he wanted him to catch her.

"Wait, no, nononono-"

But it was too late, Kelly did one last somersalt and…

...landed safely on Markus's shoulders.

"To get us further!" she exclaimed, clapping and looking towards the cheerleader, "We need that next tip! Whoo!"

The cheerleader and the other teams watched in awe of Kelly's stunts, before almost unanimously bursting out into cheering.

* * *

 **Team Confessional: Markus and Kelly**

Kelly held the ticket in her hand that said that they needed to go to the chill zone as she exclaimed, "See? I told you to trust me!"

"I have to admit that _was_ kinda exhilarating," Markus replied with a nod.

" _Kinda_ exhilarating?" Kelly asked, faking shock, "No, that was totally _beyond_ exhilarating! We did _totes amazing!_ "

* * *

As Kelly and Markus ran on, the two teams of Gertrude and Isadora, as well as Rosa and Naoya, were absolutely blown away by the two's performance.

"Talk about a hard act to follow," Naoya deadpanned, not really sure if they could keep up with it at all.

"As long as I don't dislodge my hip, _maybe_ I could do something like that…" Gertrude mused wistfully, a little unsure herself for once.

"Come on, it can't be _that_ bad," Rosa mused before saying, "We'll never know unless we try! Let's give it our best!"

"She's right," Naoya nodded, adding, "It is not over until the mad lady sings!"

Isadora gave a giggle, turning to face the rich kid, "That's _fat_ lady, Naoya."

"That too," the sheltered teen nodded, before saying, "...Are you sure that's how it's said? I mean, I don't wanna look foolish-"

"You look fine," she lazily waved him off, "It's all chill."

Gertrude got between the two, now agreeing whole-heartedly with Rosa, "Alright, then! Let's get them and show them what we've got!"

* * *

"And show them what they had, they did!" Don's voice narrated, as the rest of the team's cheers were shown on the screen.

Rosa and Naoya's cheer was simple, but got the job done, Naoya doing his best to keep up with the girl. Yet it worked out just fine, and they were allowed to continue onward to the Chill Zone. Isadora and Gertrude put a lot of fire into theirs in contrast, and while it didn't wow everyone as much as Kelly and Markus's cheer, it did enough to get them to go on.

The rest of the teams also succeeded to varying degrees, to say the least.

Ash and James's cheer wasn't the most energetic in the world, but it was definitely physically active enough to get them the okay. While Junior looked extremely uncomfortable, Davis picked up the slack for his partner's slack, incorporating his musical ability into his cheer to come up with a really unique blend of singing and slight gymnastics.

Jake and Ethan's cheer was standard, but both boys pulled it off with aplomb. Jackie and Rebecca took a page from Davis's book, incorporating their singing voice into a rendition of the football rock song "The Boys Are Back In Town," changing it to fit themselves by using "Girls" instead of "Boys."

Lexi and Mitch ended up being a massive surprise themselves, as Lexi was already moderately fit, but when her own movements matched Mitch's lightning fast ones, it was incredibly entertaining to watch. With Shakir and Xavier, Shakir was the selling point of the cheer with his wild but expressive movements, while Xavier preferred to let his partner have the spotlight, wanting to just back him up to the best of his abilities.

The race was on, as the first nine teams continued the last trek to the Chill Zone. In an unsurprising move, one team ended up making it there first.

"Kelly! Markus!" Don greeted the cheerleader and workaholic, "Welcome to first place! When you're put on your new teams, you'll be given a headstart."

"Yes!" Kelly cheered happily, giving her partner a high five. Seventeenth place for Markus all the way up to first place was a massive upset and game changer for him. And going from fourth place to first place for Kelly wasn't that bad of a move on her part either.

Don looked over to see two teams running neck to neck with each other to receive second, "Oooh, so it's Gertrude and Isadora VS. Rosa and Naoya! Which team will make it here first?"

As the teams neared the Chill Zone, one of the contestants, Naoya, tripped. Because of this, Gertrude and Isadora were able to score second place, putting Rosa and Naoya into third.

"Hey, need some help up?" Isadora asked the downed rich boy, bending over and extending her hand.

"We're on different-"

"Who cares?" she asked, shaking her head, "The challenge's over, so."

Naoya sat there a moment, before taking Isadora's hand and standing up, walking over to stand next to the other two teams on the Chill Zone.

* * *

 **Team Confessional: Markus and Kelly.**

"Let's keep up the momentum, Markus!" Kelly exclaimed happily, extremely pumped over their win in the second leg of the race.

"Well, I got seventeenth last time, so I've got to build _up_ that momentum first," Markus replied, still a little unsure of himself.

"...It's a work in progress," the cheerleader turned to the camera and nodded.

* * *

 **Solo Confessional: Rosa**

"Third place!" she cheered with a smile, "We did great! And that challenge? It was actually really, really fun!"

The fourth team to arrive was none other than Shakir and Xavier. Coming after them was Davis and Junior, Jake and Ethan, Jackie and Rebecca, Lexi and Mitch, and finally, Ash and James.

* * *

 **Team Confessional: Ash and James.**

"Ninth isn't all that bad," Ash mused with a shrug, "Could be a lot better, but it could be a lot worse too."

"We didn't come in last," James replied with a grunt, as he was back to his laptop once again.

"If this is what you call celebrating, I'd hate to see what your bored face was, man," Ash turned towards the delinquent, smirking slightly.

* * *

"With the first half of the contestants already crossed the finish line," Don narrated once again, "The second half began the cheerleading challenge! Six teams succeeded and were able to move onto the Chill Zone…"

Brooke and Blaine were first up, the former doing decently and the latter having much more excited movements in particular. Josh and Melissa went after them, giving a good job with a few shared comedic pratfalls to give their cheer a certain zest to it that no other team could replicate. Liam and Rosalina's cheer ended up being standard, but it did have a certain cute factor thanks to the latter.

Lily and Danielle, Danielle wearing the male cheerleading uniform, had an interesting contrast to their cheer; Lily's half of the cheer being more feminine and Danielle's being more tomboyish. But it did work, overall. Scarlett and Vanessa, Scarlett being fine with wearing the male cheerleading uniform, had a relatively geeky cheer due to who both of them were, but Vanessa gave it a sultry edge.

Tai and Charlotte, however, proved the most that they were working hard to make it further in the competition. Using Charlotte's high energy and acting prowess, alongside Tai's great magical skills, their cheer was less of a cheer and more of an _experience_. Even people like Brady and Victor had to admit that the two did a fantastic job.

* * *

 **Team Confessional: Charlotte and Tai**

"When I say I'm going to make sure me and my partner tries our hardest, I mean it!" Charlotte affirmed with a nod, "Take that, Don! Tai isn't going home this week!"

Tai crossed his arms, smiled, and nodded as well, but his eyes obviously shared the same sentiment towards Don as Charlotte had; not a good one.

* * *

However, three teams weren't doing as well. At all.

And it all exploded into view when Helen had dropped Justin during their routine.

"My ass!" the model exclaimed in horror, "You dropped me on my precious, precious ass!"

"Okay, you know what?" the chef asked, turning to face Justin and glaring at him, "You've been nothing but _annoying_ since this competition even started!"

"Excuse me-"

"Yeah, _excuse you_ ," Helen interrupted him, her gaze growing icier and icier by the moment, "All you do is talk about yourself or complain about your ' _pwecious, pwecious'_ ass which, in my opinion? Isn't even that great!"

Justin gave an overdramatic gasp, as he ordered, "Take that back! Take that back _right_ now!"

As the two continued to argue, it wasn't like the other teams were speaking either. Sam and Kayla, who were on opposite teams, ended up sitting next to each other as they ignored their respective teammates.

"How'd it come to this?" Sam asked with a weary sigh, "I'm almost sure that I'm going to lose right now."

"Tell me about it," the goth replied, sighing as well, "Why do you think you're going to lose?"

"Victor had to wear the skirt," Sam motioned over to the absolutely appalled Victor, who was ranting to no one but himself, "So he's refusing to do the challenge. At all."

"What a baby," Kayla replied, rolling her eyes, "It's just a skirt."

"Seriously," Sam agreed before asking, "What about you and Brady?"

Kayla gave a scoff in annoyance when Sam said her teammates name, "He decided that he wasn't going to do it because cheerleading is girly."

"Why am I not surprised?" Sam mused, before frowning and standing up, "You know what? No. Neither of us deserve to lose a challenge because we have two shitty partners, now do we?"

Kayla sat there for a moment before nodding and standing up, "Absolutely right! We should tell them what's for, shouldn't we?"

"Damn straight," Sam smirked, and nodded, "Let's do it."

* * *

Meanwhile, at the Chill Zone, more contestants had arrived. Liam and Rosalina claimed tenth, Tai and Charlotte got eleventh (which they did promptly point out to Don, to his annoyance), Josh and Melissa scored twelfth, Brooke and Blaine got thirteenth, Scarlett and Vanessa got fourteenth, and Lily and Danielle came in fifteenth place.

"What's taking them so long?!" Don ranted, as he paced back and forth, "The last three teams should be here by now! We have an elimination to… eliminate!"

"Huh," Ash spoke up amusedly as she watched Don pace, "I think I see a gray hair forming."

"A _what?!_ "

* * *

 **Team Confess** **ional: Jackie and Rebecca**

"Sam _really_ needs to hurry up," Rebecca sighed, crossing her arms.

"Why do you care exactly?" Jackie asked, raising an eyebrow at her teammate.

"Because he was one of the first friends I made here?" the rocker replied, arching an eyebrow right back at Jackie, "And he's pretty cool?"

"Ah," was the artist's only reply.

* * *

 **Solo Confessional: Vanessa**

"The pastel babe can't be eliminated yet," Vanessa shook her head, "I mean, she and Danielle helped me out last episode. She's good people."

She then smiled, " _Aaaaand_ she _did_ say that she was okay with me kissing her, so that's a plus in her favor."

* * *

Back at the gymnasium, Sam and Kayla ended up gathering Brady and Victor together, Brady snickering childishly at the principal's attire.

"Nice skirt, old man," the French teen commented.

"Don't be _looking at this skirt, you-"_

"Hey!" Kayla exclaimed, hands on her hips, "We gathered you two together for a _reason_!"

"Oh yeah, koolaid hair?" Brady asked, smugly, "And what exactly is _that_?"

Kayla stared at Brady for a moment, before stepping forward, ready to fight him, before being held back by Sam.

"We don't like you," Sam spoke, bluntly, "And we can tell you don't care for us either. Obviously."

"Damn true," Victor seethed, his arms crossed as he glared at the ex-intern, "Your point is?"

"Our point is if you don't want to lose out on _half a million dollars for being stubborn_ ," Sam emphasized, "Then we don't really care. But think about it. Half a million dollars."

"Or at least be useless when you're on someone _else's_ team!" Kayla added, her hands on her hips.

Brady and Victor didn't speak, but did wordlessly glance at each other.

* * *

"Finally!" Don exclaimed in fatigue, "The last two out of three teams are here! What took you so long?!"

In sixteenth place was none other than Brady and Kayla, who on Brady's half of the cheer begrudgingly did their cheer to get it over with. But this seemed to have just made Kayla even _more_ livid.

"You were good at being flexible _the entire time?!_ " Kayla asked, glaring at Brady, her usual happy silliness absolutely gone.

"You didn't ask," was Brady's smug, simple reply.

"Ignore him, hun," was Vanessa's voice, trying to calm Kayla down.

"Oh, he's basically _blacklisted_ from my sight, don't worry," the goth seethed, before mumbling, "I need my sweater. Anything's better than this outfit."

In seventeenth place, barely saving themselves from elimination was Victor and Sam, who were in a slightly better mood than the other team since Sam already assumed that Victor wouldn't be that great at cheerleading anyway.

"You actually got your partner to cooperate?" Rebecca asked Sam, arching an eyebrow.

"Think you'd get rid of me that quick?" he replied, chuckling slightly.

"Nah, not that quick," she shook her head.

"Yeah, she did," was Jackie's deadpan addition to the conversation.

* * *

Don ended up having to walk all the way back to the gymnasium, deciding to stand next to the college's cheerleader and ask her, "You think they'll argue all day?"

"I, like, have no clue, but this is better than cable," was the woman's reply.

"True," he chuckled, "But we _do_ have a show to do."

"You literally were useless on Total Drama, too!" Helen exclaimed, shouting at the model, "I'd know! I watched every season!"

"Like you did any better on your show!" the model shot back, his nostrils flaring in anger.

"I did _excellent-_ "

"YOU WERE ELIMINATED FIFTH!"

Suddenly, the two were stopped by a sudden and loud blare of an airhorn. They turned to face Don, who had his arms crossed and was just staring at them incredulously.

"Congratulations," he mocked, sarcastically, "Because of your incessant arguing, you two are the first eliminated from the competition. You _both_ suck at reality shows."

Helen and Justin stared wide-eyed at Don, before Helen glared back at Justin and shouted, "This is _your_ fault!"

* * *

 **Team Confessional: Danielle and Lily**

"Well, we were right," Danielle noted, laughing slightly, "I do feel bad for them, but they _did_ argue the entire time of the challenge."

"I'm afraid I do not concur," Lily disagreed, shaking her head, "They didn't even _attempt_ to do anything to help themselves out."

"You really can be blunt when you need to, huh?" Danielle asked, having to keep herself from laughing even harder.

"One of my finer charms," the Native American girl giggled, putting a hand over her mouth, before asking, "So. Did you see that detective boy's legs?"

"I wasn't look-" Danielle paused, as Lily's smile just grew wider in amusement.

* * *

 **Final Words: Helen.**

"Did I have an awful experience?" she asked, " _Yes._ Why couldn't I have been given a better teammate?! Don gave me that teammate on purpose! This is all rigged! _Rigged_!"

"Actually, it was randomly generated," Don popped his head into the confessional, "You just suck- _Ow_!" Helen had suddenly punched him hard in the face.

"...I feel much better now, actually," she grinned.

* * *

 **Final Words: Justin.**

"Whatever, now I can go back to modeling," Justin didn't seem to care at all about him being eliminated, as he stared into his hand mirror, "A face as pretty as this definitely doesn't need all this stress. I _could_ be getting gray hairs and have a black eye right now, after all."

* * *

Don was seen outside the campus, nursing his black eye, as he signed off the show, "With that, Helen and Justin are the first two contestants to leave us! Thirty-four contestants remain, and twenty-four more stops are planned! Who will end up being eliminated next? Find out right here! On the Ridonculous Race: Stranger Shuffle! ...Anyone got any aspirin?"

* * *

 **Episode 2 Race Rankings:**

1st- Markus and Kelly

2nd- Gertrude and Isadora

3rd- Rosa and Naoya

4th- Xavier and Shakir

5th- Davis and Junior

6th- Jake and Ethan

7th- Jackie and Rebecca

8th- Lexi and Mitch

9th- Ash and James

10th- Liam and Rosalina

11th- Tai and Charlotte

12th- Josh and Melissa

13th- Brooke and Blaine

14th- Scarlett and Vanessa

15th- Lily and Danielle

16th- Brady and Kayla

17th- Victor and Sam

18th- Justin and Helen

 **Remaining contestants** : Ash, Blaine, Brady, Brooke, Charlotte, Danielle, Davis, Ethan, Gertrude, Isadora, Jackie, Jake, James, Josh, Junior, Kayla, Kelly, Lexi, Liam, Lily, Markus, Melissa, Mitch, Naoya, Rebecca, Rosa, Rosalina, Sam, Scarlett, Shakir, Tai, Vanessa, Victor, and Xavier.

 **Eliminated contestants** : Helen and Justin.

* * *

 **And thus, Helen and Justin are the first two contestants to go instead of Victor like a lot of people guessed last episode. Justin was planned from the start to be the first boot in comparison to Scarlett and Junior. Helen also seemed like a fair first boot to teach her (or not) that she's not all that and a bag of chips herself.**

 **What'd you think of this chapter? Tell me everything that comes to mind, because I had a _lot_ of fun reading everyone's thoughts last week! Especially since this week had some plot threads start up for the most part and some foreshadowing on its way.**

* * *

 **Next episode:** Game of Crones


	5. Episode 3: Mission Improbable

**Sorry for the late chapter! But please understand that I have college classes and this _was_ Halloween weekend too. Because of this, I will be updating once a week still, but it could be anytime that week. Please continue to remain patient with me.**

 **Now let's get the next episode started!**

* * *

 **Episode 3:** Mission Improbable

* * *

( _Narrated by Don._ )

"Last time on The Ridonculous Race: Stranger Shuffle. Our thirty-six teams had to say goodbye to their previous teams as the aforementioned shuffle put them into brand new teams."

"Some got along fine!" A clip of Charlotte and Tai from the cheerleading challenge was shown, followed by Danielle and Lily's last confessional.

"Some? Not so fine." A clip of Sam and Kayla telling Victor and Brady off was shown, as well as Justin and Helen arguing with each other, as Don said, "But it was in Dallas, Texas that Helen the baker and Justin the model were the first two contestants to be eliminated from the show."

"Thirty-four contestants remain, with twenty-four more legs in the race to go," he continued, "Which two contestants will end up coming in first this week? Which two contestants will be going home? Find out right here on… The Ridonculous Race: Stranger Shuffle!"

After the theme song ended, Don stood in front of the thirty-four remaining contestants, who had already disbanded from their episode two teams, ready to be sorted into a brand new set of ragtag teams.

"I see you guys are already getting used to the gimmick, huh?" the host asked before chuckling and saying, "Alright! Let's see what teams we've got for today!"

Pressing a button on his remote, the portable monitor once again shuffled through everyone's names, before finally generating seventeen brand new teams for the current leg of the race.

The monitor read:

 **Ethan and Tai**

 **Mitch and Brady**

 **Markus and Jackie**

 **Liam and James**

 **Lexi and Xavier**

 **Sam and Scarlett**

 **Kelly and Rosa**

 **Vanessa and Ash**

 **Naoya and Blaine**

 **Shakir and Brooke**

 **Melissa and Victor**

 **Jake and Isadora**

 **Gertrude and Kayla**

 **Rebecca and Danielle**

 **Junior and Josh**

 **Charlotte and Rosalina**

 **Lily and Davis**

"Markus and Jackie, Kelly and Rosa," Don spoke once the contestants moved to meet their new teammates, "You may look at the Don Box Tip first."

"Gladly!" was Kelly's excited response as the cheerleader hit the button on top of the Don Box, reading it out loud, "'Buckle up because something's rotten in the state of… Denmark?'"

The camera panned away from Kelly to show Don in front of a green screen with the sights of Denmark behind him, "Not _just_ Denmark, but Copenhagen, Denmark! A city filled with precious artifacts, royal families, and a truckload of flowers! But this challenge, we don't have time to stop and smell the tulips… because we have a pretty big challenge to undertake! Wink, wink!"

* * *

 **Team Confessional: Markus and Jackie**

"I'm pretty sure this means this challenge is going to be pretty awful, isn't it?" Markus asked, turning towards his teammate.

"I'm just surprised it took this long to get this bad, honestly," was Jackie's response, with a shrug.

* * *

Once again, the contestants were off, booking their flights to go all the way from Dallas, Texas to Copenhagen, Denmark. Once again, there was three flights, the first two flights carrying six teams each and the third flight carrying five teams.

The first flight had Kelly and Rosa, Liam and James, Markus and Jackie, Melissa and Victor, Mitch and Brady, and Rebecca and Danielle.

The second flight's teams were Charlotte and Rosalina, Gertrude and Kayla, Junior and Josh, Lily and Davis, Naoya and Blaine, and Vanessa and Ash.

The third and final flight carried Ethan and Tai, Jake and Isadora, Lexi and Xavier, Sam and Scarlett, and Shakir and Brooke.

* * *

 **Flight 1.**

* * *

Mitch sat quietly next to Brady, who was asleep and snoring. While it wasn't visible, the air around Mitch seemed moderately annoyed. After all, he understood why Brady almost caused someone to lose the last challenge.

Brady soon snored loudly, waking himself up and looking around before deadpanning at Mitch, "Oh. It's just you. The quiet guy."

Mitch just quietly shrugged, admitting, "Yeah, true." However, when Brady wasn't looking, he made a gesture as if he was hanging a noose around the other boy and hoisting it up.

Meanwhile, across the aisle, Liam looked over at James, who was typing away at his computer, doing more computer hacking at the time.

"Isn't that illegal?" the gentleman asked, furrowing his brows slightly.

"So is downloading illegal movies but everyone does it," was James's blunt response.

"Yeah, but I think you could get into _some_ definite legal percussions from that," Liam frowned and shook his head, "You really shouldn't mess with that."

James stared at Liam deadpan, before standing up from his seat and walking away from the other guy. Liam had to hold back rolling his eyes. James sure was a friendly soul, wasn't he?

The computer hacker went over to sit in Mitch's seat, since once again, the hooded boy had disappeared from sight like a ghost once more. He and Brady did talk a little bit back in episode 1, so he did believe that he wasn't _as_ annoying as a lot of the other contestants.

"Sup, man?" Brady asked, nodding to the delinquent.

"Avoiding getting shamed morally," was James's simple answer.

"Yeah, that Liam, huh?" Brady asked, crossing his arms, "He really is kinda snooty and a goody good, ain't he?"

"Being a goody two shoes won't get you far in this race," James agreed, not looking up from his monitor.

Brady laughed for a moment before nodding, "Yeah, true that. Hey. I got a question? You gonna go for that Ash chick?"

James shrugged. They were just a team together, so he wasn't really sure that he really cared that much. He finally asked, "Why? Want her?"

"Nah, man!" Brady laughed, shaking his head, "Nah, I'm all for that _petit chou_ over there." He jerked his thumb over towards Rebecca, who was currently idly chatting with her teammate, Danielle. James looked over at her before deadpan looking into the nearest camera.

 **Solo Confessional: Brady**

"Yep," the bully inhaled and grinned, "All I have to do is put on the 'ole Watterson charm and speak my language, the language of love? Oh, she'll be crawling all over me."

 **Solo Confessional: James**

"While I do think Brady's alright," the computer hacker looked up from his laptop, "he's definitely the most _delusional_ person here. And that includes Rosalina, Ethan, Shakir, Melissa, and Naoya. Just so you know." It was obvious that he did find Brady more tolerable than the other five, except for maybe Melissa, but he definitely didn't think that Brady had a chance in the world.

"So wait," Rebecca spoke to Danielle, holding up two hands to her, "Let me get this straight. You're saying that animals help you out?"

Danielle took a strand of brown hair and tucked it behind her ear, before nodding, "I believe that about sums it up."

"So you're like Dawn or DJ or Ella," was Rebecca's continuing question.

"Ennui, too, now that I think about it," the girl replied after musing for a second.

Smiling slightly, Rebecca extended her fist for a fist bump with Danielle, "Okay. That's _really_ cool. Too bad I probably won't be on your team if we have a challenge soon with animals."

Danielle returned the fist bump and laughed slightly, "Who knows? I may help you out sometime?" Rebecca was about to jokingly respond to that, but suddenly a shadow fell over the two girls. The two turned around to face none other than Brady, who had his hand on the back of Rebecca's seat and gave her a clicking motion with finger guns.

"Hey, _mon petit chou_ ," he spoke, not expecting Rebecca to know the word and expecting her to ask out of curiosity.

"My little cabbage, huh?" Danielle asked, giggling slightly. This would be entertaining, for sure.

Rebecca furrowed her brows and crossed her arms when Danielle explained what the phrase meant, "Your little… what? What does _that_ mean?"

"Uh," Brady suddenly began to sputter, turning red, "Uh. Y'know! You're uh- cute like a… cabbage? It's-It's a French term!"

"Nice," was her uninterested reply, "But I'm not French."

"Well, yeah, but-"

"I'd quit while I'm ahead if I were you," was Danielle's response, trying to hold back giggles at Brady's failure.

"...Shit," he cursed under his breath before stammering, "Yeah," and walking off.

"So," Danielle looked over at Rebecca, "Did that make you fall for him?"

"It made me want to vomit if that's an answer for you," Rebecca replied, smirking at her teammate slightly.

The two girls jumped slightly when a loud voice rang, "WHADDYA MEAN YOU DON'T WANT TO BE IN AN ALLIANCE WITH ME?! I'VE SEEN YOU ASK OTHER BRATS!"

Melissa just stared blankly at Victor, "I just… don't?"

"Look, kid," the principal crossed his arms over his chest, "I'm the best alliance mate you could get out of _anyone_ here! Anyone! At all! _Ever_!"

"Maybe if you didn't… scream," Danielle mentioned from over in her seat, "Or act like you do, someone would want to ally with you."

Victor opened and closed his mouth. He hated to admit it, but the British girl did definitely have a point.

* * *

 **Team Confessional: Danielle and Rebecca.**

"Do you blame her?" Rebecca asked, shaking her head, "He almost cost him and Sam the game! I certainly don't want his help!"

"Because he cost someone the game or because he almost cost _Sam_ the game?" Danielle asked, tilting her head slightly at the rocker.

"...Yeah, I plead the fifth on that one," was her simple answer.

* * *

 **Solo Confessional: Melissa.**

"I reaaaally want people to like me and ally with me," she rubbed her arm slightly before frowning and shaking her head, "But! But, you know… I _do_ want to win the game. And I'm pretty sure Victor would get us eliminated in a snap." She snapped her fingers for emphasis.

* * *

 **Solo Confessional: Victor.**

"Okay, maybe I royally messed up last challenge," Victor begrudgingly admitted, "And now none of these brats want to work with me. But maybe… Just maybe if I…" He shuddered, " _Work with them,_ I'll get to survive another few episodes here."

* * *

Markus and Jackie, surprisingly enough, had an extremely quiet demeanor at that moment. Both were hardworkers, and since Markus was finally with another overachiever of sorts, he found that he could work on his essays in peace. This was fine to Jackie too, since she could get a lot of theatre reading done while they ended up making it to Denmark.

Kelly and Rosa, however, were deep into a conversation that Rosa seemed a little nervous to talk about.

"I'm afraid that if I keep flirting with guys, it's going to end up getting me burned," the Latina explained, holding her hands in her lap and looking down slightly, "Or get me eliminated from the competition. And I don't want that. Not yet."

Kelly tapped her lip and gave a hum, "There's no way that you know that you can use that'll stop it dead in its tracks? Like, at all?"

Rosa just shook her head and frowned.

"...Do you want some help?"

The girl perked up and asked, "You'll help me?"

"Sure, I will!" the enthusiastic cheerleader beamed, "I mean, I helped Markus loosen up a _little_ bit last challenge, so this'll be a cinch! Right, Markus?!" The workaholic turned red from embarrassment and slunk down slightly when Kelly said this, causing Jackie to giggle slightly in response.

* * *

 **Team Confessional: Kelly and Rosa.**

"So you really think you can help?" the flirt asked, honestly curious to see if Kelly could help at least calming her natural seducing traits down.

"I'm P-O-S-I-T-I-V-E!" Kelly spelled out and put her hands on her hips, "Or my middle name isn't Gleeful, Rosa!"

"... _Is_ your middle name gleeful?" Rosa asked, taking a doubletake for a moment.

Kelly fell silent before saying, "Well, no, but if it was, y'know?"

* * *

 **Flight 2.**

* * *

In an interesting turn of events, the tragic comedian and the comeback kid had hit it off extremely well. Josh was currently testing a new standup routine for the thirteen year old, as the boy listened intently.

"And that's exactly how I drew this nub," Josh had his right hand in his sleeve, before pulling it out and pretending to be horrified, " _Aaaaaah, it's a Ridonculous miracle!_ "

Junior burst into laughter for a moment before wiping a tear away, "Dude. Dude, you probably shouldn't joke about that. Knowing this show, you might actually _lose_ an arm that way."

"Oh, relax," Josh chuckled, shrugging, "I doubt that they could have the injuries get _that_ bad. Well, uh. Other than the fact Devin left here in a full-body cast."

"Or the fact that Don almost left Laurie and Miles on an island full of cannibals," the blonde kid reminded.

"Oh, yeah," Josh remembered hearing that last season with a nod, even though the two vegans came back safe and sound, "Huh. I didn't know that cannibals liked tofu." In response to that, Junior snickered slightly.

* * *

 **Solo Confessional: Junior.**

"Josh is actually pretty cool!" the young teenager exclaimed, decidedly, "I mean, not a lot of people on this show are my age. Y'know. Except for Rosalina. But Josh actually pays attention to me and listens to what I've gotta say. It's pretty rad, honestly."

* * *

 **Solo Confessional: Josh.**

"In all honesty," the comedian rubbed the back of his neck, "I kinda see Junior as a younger brother figure since my own brother couldn't come with me, y'know? Like a brother from another mother!" He shrugged.

* * *

"So any luck so far getting anyone together?" Charlotte bounced on her heels a little impatiently. She was way too excited to see what Denmark was like, since it was a country not routinely visited by shows like the Ridonculous Race or Total Drama World Tour.

Rosalina gave a sigh and shook her head, "No. I mean, I was _trying_ to do so, but it just didn't seem to work out in any of my tries yet."

"Well, don't give up that easily!" Charlotte urged her with a smile, "I mean, we're just in the third leg of the race! I'm sure we'll get some happy couples sooner or later!" She shrugged.

"Yeah… Yeah, you're right!" Rosalina perked up and gave the older girl a smile, before looking around the room, "Like…. Joooooosh… And…."

"Do I not get a say in this?" Josh, who was in ear range asked, furrowing his brows.

"Well, you do want to find a good boyfriend, right?" Rosalina asked, giggling slightly, "How abouuuuut… Davis-"

"No, seriously," he sternly shook his head, "You could at least ask me before you try to pair me up with someone, you know?" As an awkward tension began to grow between the two, Charlotte and Junior wisely decided to sit this one out for now.

"I just did, silly-"

"Just forget it," Josh finally decided to just leave her alone, turning back to talk to Junior.

* * *

 **Team Confessional: Charlotte and Rosalina.**

"Well, that backfired…" Rosalina muttered, feeling really awkward from that whole situation.

"He was right that you should ask first, though," Charlotte reminded, before noticing how down the girl was, "Hey! You draw, right?!"

"Yeah?" Rosalina looked up slightly.

"How about you show me some of your drawings and you put the whole cupid thing on the backburner for this leg," she asked, "Sound good?"

Rosalina mused for a second before saying, "Just wait until you see my newest yaoi doujin!"

* * *

"And that's when we _burst_ out into chorus!" Davis exclaimed, talking animatedly to Lily.

"Mhm~"

"We gave the most showstopping performance of our lives!"

"Nice~"

"...You're not listening at all, are you?" Davis asked, arching an eyebrow at his teammate, who currently was writing in a notebook.

Lily looked over at Davis and said, "Oh, of course I'm listening! I can promise you that I would never tune out such intriguing stories about your singing career!"

"Oh… Well, thanks, Lily; I appreciate it!" Davis replied, grinning at his teammate's compliment. He turned to the window for a moment to take some time out to just enjoy the sights of the airspace around them, as Lily shook her head slightly at the camera to signify she had no idea whatsoever about what Davis just talked about.

Meanwhile, Vanessa was playing none other than The Legend of Zelda: Triforce Heroes on her 3DS. To her surprise, Ash had looked over her shoulder to watch her play.

"Green, red, or blue?" was Vanessa's amused question to her teammate.

"Red," Ash didn't seem all that phased and shrugged, "I think it's one of the cooler Links anyway."

"I agree, but blue's a pretty different color too," she mused, tapping her lips, before accidentally having her Link fall off of the platform he was on, "Damn it! Uh… That was _completely_ an accident, just so you know,."

"Yeah," Ash smirked, crossing her and arms and rolling her eyes, "I believe you."

The environmental tomboy stood up and said, "Gonna stretch my legs. Gonna see what the other teams are up to."

"Alright!" Vanessa replied, as she became engrossed in her game once more.

Davis had become engrossed in the movie playing on the flight, the adaptation of Hairspray, leaving Lily to her own devices for the moment. As Ash passed by, she noticed that there was names of contestant's on each the girl's notebook, with some notary shorthand scribbled out beside it.

"Deciding which one of us to eliminate first?" Ash asked, raising an eyebrow. She kept her tone neutral, just to see what Lily would say.

"More like, who should I observe to see who would make an interesting character study," was the girl's response, as she looked over at Ash, "I'm actually wanting to go to college to become a social psychologist!"

"A social psychologist?" Ash asked, looking a little taken aback, "I would have thought you would have went into something like wedding planning or something."

"And I never would have seen you as the type to save the environment as strongly as you do," the girly girl responded, simply.

Ash opened and closed her mouth before saying, "Yeah, touche."

* * *

 **Solo Confessional: Ash.**

"I dunno," she shrugged, "Lily's a strange person, but to think she's going into something as serious and hard as _psychology_? I expected her to just be a ditzy girly girl, honestly."

* * *

 **Solo Confessional: Lily.**

"I think that Ash is a pretty interesting contender, and that's why I do feel a little bad about lying to her partially," was what Lily said to the camera, "I'll be using my knowledge of social psychology to ultimately weed out the problem children. But for now, Ash seems just fine and not on my radar."

* * *

"Is this what public school's like?" Naoya asked, grimacing as he watched the main character of Hairspray get bullied for her weight. Part of him was glad that he was sheltered and homeschooled because of it.

"Well, no," his teammate, Blaine, shook his head, "I mean there _is_ some jerks in high school, but it's not this… flanderized."

Naoya gave a soft, "Huh," his attention still focused on the screen.

Suddenly, the monitors went out. Several shouts of annoyance from both the contestants and other passengers could be heard throughout the plane.

"Well, that lasted long," Naoya muttered, slightly deadpan.

"Wanna go see if we can tell the staff about it?" Blaine asked, jerking his thumb towards a nearby stewardess.

Naoya nodded, "Not like we have much better to do." With that, the two boys stood up and went to go join a few others who had the same idea.

Meanwhile, Kayla was standing up to do the same thing.

"Do you think you can get me some peanuts while you're up, dearie?" Gertrude asked the pastel goth with a sweet smile.

Kayla rubbed the back of her neck and grinned back, "Sure, granny G! I'll do just that!"

As Kayla walked off, Gertrude mused, "Huh… Granny G… I really like the sound of that!"

To the goth's surprise, a long line had formed for multiple complaints against the airlines. Apparently a lot of the passengers had a _lot_ of complaints, not just one about the movie itself. As nosy as she was, she picked up on the conversation going on between two of her fellow competitors, Davis and Blaine.

"How're you surviving the contest, anyway?" Blaine had asked, wanting to strike up some conversation with the musical fellow.

" _Perfect~"_ he sung back with a smile, "Absolutely perfect, at that! Junior was a pretty great partner, and Mitch was surprisingly competent as well. How about you, Blaine?"

"I can't complain," Blaine replied, rubbing the back of his head with a grin, "I mean, Sam and Brooke are really nice. So, it's been great to be on a team with them. Naoya's… strange, but he's not _too_ ritzy, you know?"

"Same with Lily," Davis chuckled, "Wonder if we could trade partners and team up for this?"

"I doubt Don would let us," the photographer shook his head but laughed as well, "Probably stick a penalty on us from the beginning."

"Yeah, I guess I can't argue with that," the singer rationed with a nod, "But maybe I'll get you next time. I think that would be really nice, actually."

Blaine gave a really flattered smile and nodded, "You know what? I think I'd like that, man."

As the two went back to idly chatting, Kayla, who originally was going to say something, instead decided to keep quiet and tend to her own business. Buuuut, she decided, she might prod at Blaine about this later.

* * *

 **Solo Confessional: Blaine.**

"It's amazing how chill everyone is on this show, not counting like Victor, Brady, and Scarlett," Blaine mused as he sat in the confessional, "Especially Davis and Brooke. I should really get to hanging out with them a lot more."

* * *

 **Solo Confessional: Davis.**

"Kayla, you're really not subtle when you're trying to be nosy, are you?" Davis revealed that he had noticed that the girl had listened the entire time. Kayla, who was going to go to the confessional afterwards gave an "Eeep!" from outside the confessional upon overhearing that and ran off, causing Davis to snicker slightly.

* * *

Meanwhile, two other contestants in the line were having another conversation of their own, but it was much more… excited in comparison.

"Wicked was so awesome!" Naoya exclaimed with a grin, "You said you got to work on a production of it in theatre class?" Now _this_ side of public school he could easily get interested in.

"Yep!" was the enthusiastic actresses's response as she nodded, her fake cat ears bobbing up and down, "I'm actually played Galinda in it! ...Wait, if you're a shut-in, how do you know about theatre anyway?"

"It's basically one of the few things my parents let me watch," Naoya replied with a shrug, "So I consume a lot of it and a lot of books to keep myself from being bored out of my mind."

"Huh," Charlotte responded, blinking slightly, before asking, "Have you seen RENT then?"

"No, but I've heard of it," the rich kid shook his head slightly.

"See it, and I can promise you that you'll love it!" was her response, as she smiled slightly, "It's _amazing_. Although, you _might_ enjoy classical theatre too…"

With that, Charlotte began to enthusiastically talk about theatre to the rich boy, who was just as enthusiastically listening and making notes on which musicals and non-musicals to try next. Of course, this ended up with them holding up the line and being met with groans from tourists who just wanted to complain to the flight attendants.

* * *

 **Flight 3.**

* * *

"Did you arrest him?" Lexi asked, as she and her teammate Xavier were in currently in a conversation brought on from both of them being bored out of their mind from the flight, "Or do detectives even _do_ that?"

"Well, they do," Xavier explained with a shrug, "But I'm not _exactly_ an official detective just yet. I'm far too young to have that jurisdiction."

"Lame," she commented with a smirk, "You could always get your own handcuffs and go to town."

"...I'm pretty afraid to figure out what you mean by go to town," Xavier deadpanned, crossing his arms.

Lexi feigned shock before saying, "I can't believe you'd say that! Or _think_ that! For a stuffy British dude, you sure do have your mind in the gutter, dude."

"I'll ignore the fact that you called me stuffy, Punky Brewster," was Xavier's chuckling, yet still sarcastic comment. Of course, it was easy to tell that two of the more jaded contestants would get along fine with little to no problems.

Across the aisle from them was Jake and Isadora, who were currently trying to keep up their relatively happy demeanors despite the fact that two children were sitting behind them and kicking their seats almost incessantly.

"Well, it could be worse," Isadora mused, trying to make the better of the situation.

"It could be?" was the techie's response, arching an eyebrow, "We could have five children kicking our seat?"

"Pretty much," she giggled in response, " _Pre-tty much_."

Jake laughed, but when he was kicked once more, he groaned for a second before turning around to face the kids. "You know, that's pretty rude. You don't have to keep kicking our seats like that."

"Yeah," Isadora added with a nod, "Why don't you like take a breather and watch the in-flight movie or something?"

The two children looked at each other for a moment, before looking back over at the two and kicking their seats this time on purpose, swifter and harder than they did earlier on.

"We… should have seen that coming, shouldn't we?" Jake groaned again, in annoyance.

"In hindsight?" Isadora asked, before nodding, "Yeah, probably."

Lexi, who was watching all of this go down, stood up from her seat and said, "That's not a way to stop 'em. _This_ is how you stop something like this."

She turned towards the kids and said, "If you kick their seats again, I can _promise_ that I'll get the pilot to strap you to the hood of the plane for the rest of the trip."

The two kids froze in fear at the punk and looked at each other for a moment, before deciding to nervously turn their attention back to the movie.

"See?" she asked, winking at the two.

Isadora, however, wasn't all that pleased with that tactic, "You know, they're just kids. You didn't have to scare them out of their minds."

Lexi arched an eyebrow at the explorer, "Okay, then, Isadora the Explorer. The way you two handled it didn't work. I'm pretty sure your teammate realizes that too, right?"

"I plead the fifth," Jake made the correct choice in backing out of this conversation right then and there.

"Xavier," Isadora decided to turn the tables on Lexi, "Do you think that what she did was right?"

"No, it was definitely not _right_ ," Xavier replied, causing the girl to smile, but that didn't last long, "However… I probably would have done the exact same thing."

* * *

 **Team Confessional: Lexi and Xavier.**

"You probably should have plead the fifth in hindsight," Lexi commented, chuckling slightly at her teammate.

"Probably," he shrugged, "But then again, I don't particularly care for kids anyway."

"Spoken like a true blunt, stuffy British dude," Lexi prodded jokingly, causing Xavier to roll his eyes slightly.

* * *

 **Team Confessional: Jake and Isadora.**

"I'm sorry, but Lexi just kinda… _irks_ me," Isadora, for once, was frowning, "That's _not_ how you would handle that situation. I mean, yeah, they were acting up, but they were still just kids!"

Jake, still not wanting to get into this debate, said, "Still pleading the fifth."

* * *

"So, Sam." Upon hearing his name, the ex-intern ended up turning his head to face his teammate and grimaced.

"Since we're on the same team," Scarlett continued, "And since you're such a hard-working player, I believe that an alliance is in order, is it not? One of the smartest players and one of the strongest players could consistently cause a nice balance of power as we help our teammates. Through this, we could easily become two of the six to make it to the final three teams, by my calculations."

Sam was quiet for a moment before saying, "That's a really good point, but you're forgetting something pretty important."

Scarlett looked a little taken back before she asked, "Oh? And what would that be?"

"Uh, Pahkitew Island?" he asked, "I was an intern at that time? You almost _blew up the entire island and tried to kill everyone_?"

The redhead began to nervously stammer, "You- You were on _that_ season?"

"I was," he crossed his arms and gave her a stern look.

Composing herself, the genius stood up and said, "I think I'll… Be somewhere else." With that, she walked off, but that was just fine with Sam. Although, he did inwardly wonder why he had gotten two bad teammates in a row.

A few rows away, Brooke watched as her teammate held upside down from the door that held all the luggage from their row.

"Uh, Shakir?"

"Yeah, Brookeworm?" the silly individual asked as he continued to hang upside down from the top of the door.

"I'm pretty sure you're going to get yourself hurt," she tried to gently reprimand him.

"Nah."

"No, I'm _pretty_ sure that's unsafe!" Brooke shook her head and continued to try to get him to chill down somewhat.

"Look, if I was really in any danger, wouldn't I be hurt by now?" Shakir asked. However, it was at that moment, when he accidentally lost his grip and fell off and onto the floor. It was then that all the luggage inside the cabinet fell down on top of him, prompting Brooke to move her legs to avoid getting them hurt.

* * *

 **Team Confessional: Shakir and Brooke.**

* * *

Brooke was reading quietly, while Shakir was trying to come to terms with the fact that she was right and the fact that he was a little disoriented by the fall.

"...I guess!" he finally responded to Brooke's warnings. Of course, this was way late of an answer to her.

As Brooke was trying to rescue Shakir from the comically large hill of luggage, she was stopped by another contestant that had decided to try and talk to her.

"May I ask for a moment of your time, Brooke?" Scarlett asked, adjusting her glasses.

"Uh, I'm-"

"Perfect," Scarlett interrupted her and began to talk. Just like she had told Sam, she began to spit out a spiel about teaming up with Brooke in an alliance, as Brooke went back to try to rescue her teammate.

Once Scarlett was finished, she asked, "What is your reply?"

"Um," Brooke looked up and over at Scarlett, "I wasn't listening, actually…"

The redhead scowled at the bookworm and said, "Alliance. You and me. Sound good?"

Brooke stared at Scarlett for a second before shaking her head, "I'm sorry, but I'll have to decline."

" _Great_!" the evil genius exclaimed, throwing her hands up, before deciding to walk off, mumbling to herself to see who she could actually talk into this.

The bookworm watched the other girl walk away before turning back to Shakir when he said, "Mom, is that you?" She sighed quietly before returning to her attempt to free him.

Near the back of the plane, once more, Ethan was planning on a prank to use on Xavier. This time, however, he did not use a complicated prank; just a simple banana peel. Quietly, Tai watched him in curiosity.

"Hey, magician guy," the prankster turned to his teammate, "Think you can pull something out of your hat that can get detective pants over here?"

Tai tapped his lip for a moment in thought. He then rose his index finger to the sky with a small gasp of realization. Digging around in his hat, perhaps metaphorically, he ended up pulling out a toy firecracker. Throwing it on the floor, it popped, sounding suspiciously like a gunshot.

They watched everyone's head turn towards the back of the plane, as Xavier had stood up and had begun to make his way back there.

"Who did- Waaaaah!"

He actually ended up falling for it. Xavier slipped on the banana feel, falling face first on the floor.

"Yes!" Ethan jumped up from his seat after giving Tai a highfive, "I knew that I'd get you!"

"That was-" Xavier frowned, standing up as well and crossing his arms, "That was a cheap tactic, however. A very cheap tactic."

"Don't look at me, look at Tai over here," Ethan crossed his arms too and grinned.

Xavier gave Tai a nod before saying, "Yes, well. You may have won this battle." He took off his glasses and pocketed them for a moment for dramatic tension, "But you have not won the war." He began to walk away, but accidentally slipped on the banana peel once again due to not having his glasses on, causing Ethan to burst out into laughter and Tai to snicker.

* * *

 **Confessional: Ethan and Tai**

* * *

"You're amazing, you know that, dude?" Ethan congratulated the magician on his help for pulling off the prank. All Tai did in response was pull out some dust and ignite it, jokingly saying with the dust, " _I know."_

* * *

The first plane finally touched down in Copenhagen, Denmark, as the first six teams began to make their way towards the first Don Box. The first two to make it to the Box was none other than James and Liam.

"It seems to be an All-In," Liam spoke as he read the ticket, "Take a taxi to Denmark's royal family's Amalienborg Palace. Get ready, because you must do anything in your power to get past the guards or break into the palace. ...Oh no."

"Oh, yes," James replied with a smirk. This challenge was right up his alley.

Don was seen standing at the Amalienborg Palace and said, "Oh, yes, is right! The heavily guarded Amalienborg Palace is home to Denmark's own royal family. So of course, it won't be easy to make it past the guards. Inside, on the top floor of the the mansion, is the next Don Box, which will lead our teams to the second of today's challenges."

Calls for a taxi could be heard, as the camera zoomed back to them once again, this time with Don's narration, "The first six teams are making their way towards the palace, while the second set of six teams have arrived in Copenhagen, ready to head after and try to catch up. However, the third and final plane is still yet to arrive in Denmark."

* * *

Jackie and Markus stared at the grand palace before them. Of course this wouldn't be easy, as guards stood outside of the palace and none of them looked especially friendly.

"Do you think if we ask nicely they'll let us inside?" Markus asked, turning towards his teammate.

The other overachiever turned towards him and arched an eyebrow, asking, "What do you think?"

"Well, it's poss-"

"No," Jackie interrupted him, shaking her head, "Now, we're two of the smartest competitors here. It'd probably be a good idea to try and think over this before we get going. Right?"

Markus paused for a second before nodding, "Right."

As the two began to think, another team was also pondering over the correct way to make their way inside.

"Place seems locked up tight," Victor mused to himself as he looked it over, "Okay, I hate to say this, but what'cha got, kid? ...Kid?" Victor looked over and Melissa was gone. He looked around frantically for a second before seeing Melissa talking to one of the guards. He ran up to stand beside her, a little blown away by how she was trying to get in.

"We just want to meet them!" Melissa exclaimed, before giving the guard a puppy dog stare, "Pretty please with whipped cream on top?"

"That is the _dumbest_ -"

Victor was interrupted by the guard nodding and saying, "Certainly, little miss. But is _he_ with you?" He arched an eyebrow at Victor.

Melissa looked over at Victor before shrugging, "Sure, why not. He's my dad."

"Sure, why not?" Victor repeated, crossing his arms at Melissa, "Is that anyway to speak to your father?" Either way, he decided to play along with it.

The officer gave the two massive scrutiny, before shrugging, "Eh. Come on in." Stepping aside, the two contestants ran inside, ready to climb the many steps to the top floor.

"Damn," Victor commented, "That was some good manipulating."

Melissa paused for a second before asking, "I was manipulating someone?! Oh my gosh, finally!" It seemed that she didn't know that she even did it. Victor closed his eyes for a moment before forcing a smile and nodding.

* * *

 **Solo Confessional: Victor.**

"I've gotta stay on this kid's good side for now," he told the camera, "Because the last thing I wanna do is end up being eliminated second. And if her innocence gets us to the finish line? Then by hell, so be it!"

* * *

"I have absolutely no clue how we're going to pull this off," Liam commented as he looked at the palace.

"Shh," was James's response.

Ignoring that, Liam continued on, "I mean, this challenge could very well be impossible! Yet somehow… Melissa and Victor did it?"

"Shh."

"I mean, if even Jackie and Markus can't solve it, then how will we?"

"Shh."

"WILL YOU STOP SHUSHING ME AND LISTEN?!" Liam, for once, lost his temper, turning on his heels and screaming at James who once again had his head buried in his laptop.

"And… Done," James hit the enter key on the laptop, before looking back up at Liam, "I was able to override their electronic locking system on one of the lower windows. If we can sneak over to it, we're golden."

Liam fell silent before crossing his arms. As James lead the way and Liam followed, the computer hacker said, "Yeah. That's right. Fall silent, dapper boy."

Meanwhile, Kelly had another idea on how they could get inside. Turning to face Rosa, she laughed nervously and said, "So, uh. I did I'd help you, but-"

"I don't want to do the seducing thing," Rosa frowned, "You said you'd help me not do it as often…"

"Right, right," the cheerleader sighed, but relented, regardless, "How good are you at being thrown up in the air?"

"What?" Rosa asked, widening her eyes.

"...Right, my cheer team isn't with me…" she mused, now in deep thought, "This, like, might be a lot harder than I first thought- What are _they_ doing?" She curiously pointed over at Mitch and Brady.

"Follow my lead," the raspy, monotoned, hooded boy spoke to Brady, "Step with your toes and be sure to be swift and agile. Like a cheetah."

"Oh, I can be swift and agile!" Brady exclaimed proudly, jerking a thumb towards his chest, "Just you-"

"Good, now shut up," Mitch hissed. If they were going to sneak past the guards using Mitch's personal abilities, then they would have to be as quiet as they possibly could be.

Mitch began to swiftly and sneakily move towards the palace, with Brady behind him. For most of the time, it seemed to be working. None of the guards noticed them moving past the door.

...Brady noticed the fact they didn't notice.

"Hey, it's working!"

Suddenly, all eyes were on Brady, as he was right at the door. He grinned sheepishly before being forcibly pushed further away from the door, causing him to grumble and glare at the guards. However… Mitch wasn't with him.

He looked around to find the quiet boy, but to no avail. He finally found him inside the palace, through a window.

"How did-"

Mitch put a finger up to silence him, and motioned for him to find a way to get in. Brady gave his teammate a salute and began to try to find a way to get himself inside.

* * *

 **Solo Confessional: Mitch.**

"We're doomed," was all the hooded boy said to the camera.

* * *

"Are you sure that you can do this?" Rebecca whispered to Danielle, who had brought her bow and arrow from her luggage with her to the challenge.

"Trust me," Danielle replied, giving the rocker a smile, "My aim is pretty good."

Focusing on a loose light on one of the higher floors of the palace, Danielle put an arrow into her quiver, before pulling back and sending it flying towards the light, silently and sneakily. The arrow shot through the air, stabbing the light and causing it to fall to the ground with a loud crash.

Several guards ran over to see what had happened, while Danielle and Rebecca sneaked in the door. Meanwhile, Brady tried to do the same thing, only to be stopped by the guards returning as he shouted, "Oh, come on!"

Inside the palace, Rebecca gave Danielle a high-five and exclaimed, "That… was… Awesome!"

Danielle shyly moved a hair away and said, "It's just my element, I guess. No worries."

"I also saw that," both girls jumped when they noticed Mitch standing beside them, "That was decent."

"Where did you come from?!" Rebecca asked, as she stared at the silent boy.

He stayed silent for a moment before deciding to be captain obvious in his usual deadpan tone, "My mother's uterus."

Rebecca and Danielle shared a glance before shrugging and deciding to start climbing the stairs to the top.

* * *

"With only two teams advanced onto the next challenge, the second groups of teams have arrived," Don narrated as the camera switched back to the outside of the palace, "Meanwhile, the third flight has touched down in Denmark. How will the rest of this challenge go?"

"Um, Granny G?"

"Yes, miss?" Gertrude tried to feign innocence as the two sat on a stolen motorcycle.

"I don't think this is a good idea…" Kayla faltered, before saying, "Maybe… Maybe we should try something else that couldn't get us killed or, you know… Arrested?"

They were on a road work pathway that had a ramp leading towards the royal palace. Regardless of Kayla's worries, Gertrude just gunned the motor of the motorcycle more.

"Nonsense!" the daredevil grinned, "Now hold onto me just like my wife does!"

"Please tell me your wife is alive…" Kayla nervously muttered as she gripped around Gertrude's waist.

"Let's rock and roll!" the granny cackled as the motorcycle zoomed off, going up the ramp, and crashing through one of the mansion's windows.

Successfully inside the house, Gertrude cheered, "Yes! We made it, dearie!"

Kayla just weakly rose a hand up in agreement, giggling extremely nervously.

"Oh, don't just sit there, dearie," Gertrude said, standing up and hitting the Don Box to get their next tip, "We have to climb all these stairs before they catch us, you know!"

* * *

Meanwhile, Vanessa and Ash exchanged glances as they looked up at what they had just seen.

"Did Gertrude just-"

"Gertrude _did_ just," Ash interrupted Vanessa with a nod, "But, that does give us a pretty good thing, doesn't it?"

"It does?" the flirty geek arched an eyebrow at the environmentally friendly girl, "What's that?"

"We can use the window they crashed into to get in with no problems," she replied with a smirk, "Technically there's no way they can give us a penalty for it since we still have to climb in."

"Huh," Vanessa mused for a second before smiling, "Not bad, Ash! Let's give it a shot! You first!"

* * *

 **Team Confessional: Vanessa and Ash.**

"Just don't stare at my butt while I try to get in," Ash said, turning towards Vanessa.

The girl just giggled and said, "I make no promises."

* * *

Meanwhile, Josh and Junior had decided on a more… comical approach to try and enter the palace. Junior was stacked on top of Josh, as they were dressed in a fancy trenchcoat that they were able to find in a nearby store.

One of the guards perked up when they saw the tall "individual."

"Oh, Mr. Buckingham!" the guard explained, "Just in time! We'll let you right in!"

The two said nothing for a moment, before Josh spoke and Junior tried to lipsync, "Ah, yes! It is I! Mr. Bucking! ...Ham! Toodle-loo!"

"Need someone to escort you up?" the guard asked, smiling at "Mr. Buckingham."

"NO!" Josh's voice bellowed, before Junior cleared "their" throat and Josh said, "No, no. We're used to the path up by now."

"Okay, man," the guard stepped aside to let the strangely wobbly man through, "See you later, sir!"

As the two made it inside the manor and shut the door behind them, they threw off their disguise and Junior jumped down from being on top of Josh's shoulders, the two giving each other a fist-bump for their job well done.

As Josh walked over to grab the next tip, Junior asked, "Who the heck's Mr. Buckingham anyway?"

"He could be the mayor of Mars for all I know," Josh teased as he read the tip before saying, "We… Have a _long_ trip ahead of us, dude." He pointed at the long spiral staircase towards the top.

Junior sighed, but regardless nodded and said, "Let's do this!"

* * *

"And _this_ picture I made for my _second_ yaoi doujin called Lost in the Contours of love," Rosalina was showing her notebook to Charlotte and one of the guards, "It's the royal family's favorite."

"Wow!" the guard exclaimed in awe of the pictures, "I didn't know that the royal family had a personal yaoi artist!"

"That's odd, isn't it?" Charlotte smiled, playing along, "But since I'm her personal assistant, I can promise you about how legitimate this is!"

"Sounds legit!" the guard grinned and opened the door, "Think I can get one of those pictures as a laminated print?"

"I'll think about it!" Rosalina called over her shoulder as the two ran inside.

"Wow," the actress spoke as she hit the Don Box button, "I can't believe that the guards are that…"

"Dumb?" Rosalina asked, snickering slightly.

"Well, I was going to say ditzy," was Charlotte's response, "...But yeah."

The two shared a laugh before Rosalina said, "So! You should _really_ become my assistant!" Charlotte stood there for a moment before widening her eyes in bewilderment at what Rosalina just said.

* * *

Instead of currently doing the challenge, Blaine and Naoya had noticed how hard a lot of contestants were having it, and were instead seeing the sights around the palace. Blaine was taking as many pictures as he could, while Naoya was just having a good time.

"Selfie?" Blaine asked, grinning at his teammate.

"Ooh!" Naoya's eyes lit up as he clapped his hands quickly and grinned, "I've always wanted to… 'selfie!'"

* * *

 **Team Confessional: Naoya and Blaine.**

"Hey, we gotta have some fun sometime," Blaine shrugged and grinned.

"All work and no play makes Johnny's knives that more dull," Naoya added, flashing a peace sign at the camera.

"...That's 'All work and no play makes Johnny a dull boy,'" Blaine corrected the sheltered rich kid.

"Yeah, yeah," he waved that off, "That too."

* * *

As the two boys continued on, another team was using one of the team member's looks to make their way inside.

"You know, I really _adore_ foreign men in uniform," Lily seemed to be pulling a card that people would have expected Rosa or Vanessa to do. Well. People would have thought that Rosa's was unintentional, but this was obviously intentional.

"Y-you do?" the guard blushed and scratched his chin.

"Oh, definitely!" the Native American girl smiled and tilted her head slightly, "But do you know what I'd love more?"

"Wh-what's that?"

Lily bridged the gap between herself and the man, "If you'd let me and my brother inside to talk to the family."

"Well…" the guard trailed off, "...Okay. But we'll go on that date afterwards?"

"...Sure," of course, Lily wasn't interested in that at all. With that, the guard let her and Davis inside the building.

"Well, I know who's milkshakes brings some boys to the yard," Davis teased his teammate, "Next time you see a particularly cute one, put in a good word for me."

Lily just simply giggled and said, "Will do."

* * *

Back in front of the yard, the last six teams had finally arrived. But one of these six teams had already gotten inside before any of the other six.

"Man, I bet this is James's doing," Jake said with a grin, "He didn't close the data trial behind him, so I was able to locate the correct lock."

Isadora, who was doing a stretch to get ready for the long climb up the steps said, "I'm glad he did! Even if it wasn't on purpose! We have a good chance to get moving and make it there before any of the other teams!"

"Yeah, but… You know," he said, "That's a _lot_ of steps."

"It's chill, man," Isadora shook her head, "We take as many breaks as we need."

"Oh, right, you're kinda lazy," Jake remembered, before saying, "But that means… We'll be able to keep our energy up for the second challenge!"

"Exactamundo," the explorer grinned, waving a finger-gun playfully at her teammate.

* * *

"A junior detective from the UK?" a frantic guard asked, as he looked at Xavier's badge, "Are you here to find and capture the impostor Mr. Buckingham?!"

"...Yes," Xavier put his badge away and nodded, "Yes, that is exactly what I and my personal Watson here wishes to do."

"So scoot over and let us get this over with," Lexi added with a stern nod.

"Yes, of course!" the guard stepped aside and frantically said, "Thank you both so much!"

As the two stepped in, Lexi gave a small snicker, "Wow. That was _too_ easy."

"Bless his gullible heart," Xavier chuckled as well, placing a hand over his own heart.

Lexi pressed the Don Box and read the tip, before asking, "How good are you at climbing stairs?"

"Average; below average?" the detective asked with a shrug, "Why?"

Lexi motioned towards the grand staircase. All that Xavier could say in response was an already exhausted, " _Great balls of fire."_

* * *

 **Team Confessional: Lexi and Xavier.**

"I am _really_ not looking forward to this," Xavier lamented at just the thought of having to climb all of those stairs.

"I'm not looking forward to it either," although Lexi's possibly lament didn't come from that, but from the possible reason that they possibly could be eliminated over anything else.

* * *

Ethan and Tai looked over at a group of guards who were escorting Shakir and Brooke away from the door, "And don't even attempt to try that again!"

They could also hear Shakir's voice ask, "Was it the banana?" Tai decided that he didn't want to even know what Shakir had roped Brooke into to try on the guards.

They turned back to the guard they were focused on, as Ethan said, "Say, wanna see a magic trick?"

"Not especially," the gruff guard spoke, "But I doubt you kids will leave even if I say no, so go ahead."

"Perfect!" the prankster grinned before stepping aside, "Take it away, Tai!"

The magician gave an overdramatic bow to the unamused guard. He gave a slow nod and rose a finger to signify he was about to start…

...Before throwing down a smoke bomb to disorient the guard!

The guard coughed and when the smoke cleared…

Tai was half in the door and Ethan had barely moved.

"...I was supposed to follow after when he dropped the smoke bomb, wasn't I?" he chuckled sheepishly. In response, all the guard and Tai did was nod slowly in response to the prankster.

* * *

"Focusing on the ten teams already inside," Don narrated, "Well… Nine for the most part, since Xavier still hasn't made it even halfway up the steps… They're about to begin the second challenge!"

"It's an Either/Or of sorts," Jake read the new Don Box tip, "One of us has to be tied to a harness and be lowered into a set of… Electrocuting lasers?!"

"Sounds shocking," Isadora giggled, before asking, "...Man, the last challenge really went from 0 to 100, didn't it?"

* * *

"That's right, Isadora," Don narrated, as he stood amid a flower-filled Chill Zone, "Each team must pick someone to be lowered down into the set of electrocuting lasers into the palace's royal painting room. They must then steal one of the eighteen Don paintings and be raised back up by their partner and the semi-electronic winch we have installed. They must then use the window zipline I installed down to me at the Chill Zone."

* * *

 **Team confessional: Jake and Isadora.**

"If I die, bury me with my laptop," Jake joked, crossing his arms, "Or better yet wait until it's a challenge that they _really_ can't recover my body."

"So… cremate you then," Isadora said, amusedly.

"...Bury my ashes with my laptop," Jake ended up changing his thought.

* * *

The teams made up their minds on who would do what. Charlotte would be lowered by Rosalina, Gertrude would be lowered by Kayla, Jake would be lowered by Isadora, Junior would be lowered by Josh, Liam would be lowered by James, Lily would be lowered by Davis, Melissa would be lowered by Victor, Rebecca would be lowered by Danielle, and Vanessa would be lowered by Ash.

Vanessa and Danielle were the first two finished. Surprisingly, the two girls ended up working extremely well together. With Vanessa's dexterity from her video games, and Danielle's watchful eye, they were able to get Vanessa down, the painting grabbed, and back up without any trouble.

Jake and Isadora, surprisingly, weren't very far behind them, however. Jake did almost drop the painting once, but despite that, they made it pretty easily back to the top.

"Yikes!"

Josh looked down to keep an eye on Junior, widening his eyes, "Hey, you okay?!"

One of the lasers had gotten close to him, but Junior was deflecting it with the bling around his neck. "Uh… yeah. Keep lowering me!"

"Roger that!" Josh called back. Once again, Junior was lowered further, accidentally sending the laser beam out and zapping Liam.

"Yeow!"

"Sorry!" the boy apologized to Liam, as he was now holding onto a painting and was on his way back up to Josh. While Liam seemed pretty phased from the sudden shock, James seemed to look like he had an idea.

* * *

 **Solo Confessional: James.**

James chuckled a little evilly as he messed on his laptop, "Even if Liam might be already shocked from the lasers… Maybe I can find something that will _really_ help us in the challenge."

* * *

 **Solo Confessional: Josh.**

* * *

"Well, you could say that was pretty… _shocking_ ," Josh teased, chuckling slightly in the confessional.

* * *

Meanwhile, the first three teams were racing to the other side of the room to hit the zipline and make it to the Chill Zone first…

The team that happened to do that was none other than Jake and Isadora.

"Isadora! Jake!" Don announced, "You two are the first to arrive at the Chill Zone, which means in the next round, whatever teams you two are put on will receive a head start!"

" _Yes_!" Isadora exclaimed, high-fiving Jake, "First here! I knew saving our energy would give us a boost at the last minute!"

"You've gotta have some sort of strategy," Jake agreed with a grin.

The second team then pulled up right then.

"Second place goes to Junior and Josh!" Don announced to the two boys.

* * *

 **Team Confessional: Junior and Josh.**

"You know, we make a pretty solid team, don't we?" the younger of the two boys asked, "I don't even care that we didn't make first!"

"Sucks that we'll be changing teams next episode though," Josh agreed.

Junior sighed, "Yeah."

* * *

"Annnd we have Rebecca and Danielle coming in third!" Don announced

"Rad as hell!" Rebecca cheered at her and the other girl's placement, "Great job, partner!"

Danielle shook her head and simply said, "No. It was a group effort."

Charlotte and Rosalina ended up getting fourth, once again putting the two in a pretty decent placement. Of course, they were a pretty solid team through most of it. Gertrude and Kayla received fifth. To Kayla's shock and awe, Gertrude did get zapped, but she tanked it like she had barely gotten hurt at all.

Lily and Davis ended up coming in sixth, Davis being able to make sure Lily could complete the challenge safely. However, Lily had overheard a rumor that seemed to be troubling her.

* * *

 **Solo Confessional** : Lily.

"So, supposedly Scarlett is going around to other contestants and is asking for an alliance," she mused, before frowning, "Hm. Duly. Noted."

* * *

Vanessa and Ash came to the finish line right after them, coming in seventh.

"...Is that it-"

"No," Rosalina giggled, "Here comes your boyfriend!"

"For the last time, I'm happily married, you brat!" Victor and Melissa had arrived.

"Annnd, eighth goes to the loudmouth and Miss Evil," Don commented dryly as the two reached the Chill Zone.

Melissa gave a gasp and her eyes lit up, "You think I'm evil?! Really?!"

"Haha!" Don laughed, "No!" All Melissa did was sadly frown in reply.

* * *

Back with the other contestants, Don narrated, "As Liam and James continue to struggle with the second challenge, the other eight teams have arrived to the second challenge themselves!"

* * *

 **Solo Confessional: Liam**.

"We might NOT have had so many problems if James would have actually HELPED," Liam complained, as he had officially lost his shock of electricity coursed through his veins, "I WOULDN'T BE IN THIS MESS."

* * *

To get inside, each of the teams had used different ideas. Ethan and Tai had finally succeeded in their smoke bomb plan by using it on another guard, Kelly and Rosa had given up and just let Rosa use her charms to get in, Markus and Jackie had memorized the guard's routes and went in when they weren't looking (Brady also sneaked his way in at this time), Naoya bribed the guard to let him and Blaine inside, Sam and Scarlett scared the guard into letting them inside by telling them who Scarlett was, and Shakir distracted the guards to let Brooke inside then knocked the guard out with a headbutt.

While the first half of the teams more or less did pretty good with the challenge, the second half of the teams had much more of a problem. Ethan was lowered by Tai, Kelly was lowered by Rosa, Lexi was lowered by Xavier, Markus was lowered by Jackie, Mitch was lowered by Brady, Naoya was lowered by Blaine, Sam was lowered by Scarlett, and Shakir was lowered by Brooke.

Naoya and Blaine, who came in ninth place, did well getting Naoya down to the paintings, but the rich kid did end up getting shocked a few times coming back up. Ethan also sustained a few shocks and dropped some of his prankster props down below, but regardless he and Tai came in tenth.

Kelly and Rosa, despite coming in eleventh after the four boys, were able to do the challenge with little to no problems.

* * *

 **Team Confessional: Kelly and Rosa.**

"I'm a cheerleader, I'm TRAINED to be nimble," Kelly explained, "So, of course I was able to do this! Rosa was really chill about lowering me down as well!"

"That's what teammates are for," Rosa replied with a smile.

* * *

In twelfth place was Markus and Jackie. Jackie had tried her hardest to speed up the process, getting her partner zapped a few times, which she apologized for. Thirteenth place was Sam and Scarlett, who despite not caring for each other at all, did put their annoyances away to complete the challenge. Fourteenth was Mitch and Brady, Mitch skillfully dodging the lasers on his way down and back up, leaving Liam and James, Lexi and Xavier, and Shakir and Brooke as the last three teams remaining.

* * *

 **Team Confessional: Mitch and Brady.**

"Lasers cannot defeat the darkness," Mitch spoke matter of factly, "My speed was just too strong for it."

"You've GOTTA teach me that," Brady replied in response, only to notice that Mitch had already left the confessional.

* * *

Liam finally had completed the challenge and was pulled up to James, saying, "Come on! We're in the bottom three!"

"Shut it, I know that," James replied, as a smirk crossed his face, "But I'm about to make sure we don't come in last."

"...Please tell me you're not going to cheat," James paled.

"Too late," was James's response as he shut his laptop, "C'mon." With that, the two continued onto the zipline.

Suddenly, once the two had gotten on the zipline, Lexi watched as a myriad of extra lasers shined around her, effectively trapping her.

"Uh, Shakir?" Brooke asked, as the boy returned with the painting, "Were there that many lasers before?"

Shakir, who saw it as extremely suspicious, frowned and shook his head, "Hell no."

The two ran over to Xavier, who was worriedly peering down at Lexi, trapped amidst the multitude of lasers.

"I could use a little help here," Lexi called back up, suspended upside down and holding the painting but unable to maneuver too much, as she would be shocked multiple times.

"You guys go on," was what Xavier said to Shakir and Brooke.

"And let you two be eliminated?" Brooke asked, shaking her head.

"She's right, bruh," Shakir added, "That ain't fair."

"Then you two would be eliminated instead or at least have a chance to," was the detective's response, "Lexi has this."

The two shared looks of disagreement for the moment, before going on, not wanting to leave the two to possibly get eliminated.

Xavier peered down at Lexi, his hand cupped under his chin.

"I hope that means you have a plan, dude," was Lexi's tired response.

Xavier stayed quiet, continuing to look down at the many lasers. He then uttered the word, "Presto! I've got it! Lexi, do you trust me?"

"...Do I have a choice?" Was the punk's response.

"True enough," Xavier said, as he took off his glasses, "Follow my instructions, if you would."

* * *

Liam and James had reached the Chill Zone, as James uttered, "Fifteenth place. See, Liam? We-"

"Are getting a penalty," Don said when he crossed his arms, "Ten minutes. I saw the cheating stunt you pulled on Lexi and Xavier. Didn't you guys watch the penalties that I gave the Ice Dancers last season?"

Liam gave James an annoyed glare, as the computer hacker said, "Trust me. They can't free themselves in ten minutes."

* * *

 **Solo Confessional** : Ethan.

"Xavier can't be eliminated yet, our prank war just started!" Ethan exclaimed, shaking his head vehemently.

* * *

 **Team Confessional** : Rebecca and Danielle

"This isn't right," Danielle shook her head, "You can't just eliminate someone because someone decided to cheat!"

"If they can get here before their penalty runs out they might survive, though," was Rebecca's response, "Lexi and Xavier might be able to make it here. They might not. Unfortunately, that's the game."

* * *

 **Team Confessional** : Josh and Junior

"That was dirty," Josh was livid, "Lexi doesn't deserve that! ...Xavier either!"

Junior arched an eyebrow at Josh and grinned, saying, "Oh?" and nothing else.

* * *

Shakir and Brooke had arrived, claiming fifteenth place. It was down to rather or not Lexi and Xavier would be able to make it there before their penalty ran out. Ten seconds remained.

10.

9.

8.

7.

6.

5.

4.

3.

"Lexi and Xavier!" Don exclaimed as the two finally arrived and the two breathed a sigh of relief, "Sixteenth place! Liam and James, you came in seventeenth. You two are going home."

* * *

 **Team Confessional** : Lexi and Xavier.

"This smartass here threw his glasses down to me and told me to hold the painting under my arm, directed me down to the degrees I needed to hold the glasses to redirect the lasers, and it deflected the lasers to bring me back up," the punk spoke, "Damn."

Xavier, with his glasses back on, shook his head, "This was all Lexi's work."

Lexi turned to the detective and furrowed her brow before smirking, "You're really weird, you know that?"

"I don't need you to tell me that," he shook his head and smirked as well.

* * *

 **Final Words: Liam.**

"I got eliminated because my teammate cheated," Liam sighed before nodding, "If I hadn't have mentioned it, maybe Don wouldn't have known..."

He then shook his head, "No. James deserved to be eliminated. I'm glad I noticed it. Good luck, everyone." He bowed slightly.

* * *

 **Final Words: James.**

"I said I would win this competition," James said through gritted teeth, "If this was Total Drama, I WOULD have. Fuck you, Don!"

* * *

"No thanks, kid," Don shook his head, chuckling, "Four contestants down. Thirty-two to go. Who'll be the next contestants to be eliminated? Find out on the next Ridonculous Race: Stranger Shuffle!"

* * *

 **Episode 3** **Race Rankings** :

1st- Jake and Isadora

2nd- Junior and Josh

3rd- Rebecca and Danielle

4th- Charlotte and Rosalina

5th- Gertrude and Kayla

6th- Lily and Davis

7th- Vanessa and Ash

8th- Melissa and Victor

9th- Naoya and Blaine

10th- Ethan and Tai

11th- Kelly and Rosa

12th- Markus and Jackie

13th- Sam and Scarlett

14th- Mitch and Brady

15th- Shakir and Brooke

16th- Lexi and Xavier

17th- Liam and James

 **Remaining contestants** : Ash, Blaine, Brady, Brooke, Charlotte, Danielle, Davis, Ethan, Gertrude, Isadora, Jackie, Jake, Josh, Junior, Kayla, Kelly, Lexi, Lily, Markus, Melissa, Mitch, Naoya, Rebecca, Rosa, Rosalina, Sam, Scarlett, Shakir, Tai, Vanessa, Victor, and Xavier.

 **Eliminated contestants** : Helen and Justin, Liam and James.

* * *

 **And Liam and James are the second set of contestants eliminated. I did like both characters, but neither of them were really fitting into the plans of the rest of the competition. But, they do have a chance to return later at least!**

 **Next Episode:** Boiling Point.


	6. Episode 4: Boiling Point

**Well, this is a surprise! I was hit by a lot of muse to do this episode, so here's the fourth episode significantly earlier than usual! And while I'll let you guys decide if it's a good episode or a bad episode, boy is it a doozy...**

 **We also have officially hit fifty-thousand words! Whoo!**

 **Here we go!**

* * *

 **Episode 4:** Boiling Point

* * *

 _(Narrated by Don.)_

"Last time on the Ridonculous Race: Stranger Shuffle! Our teams left the good 'ole U.S. of A for none other than Copenhagen, Denmark! But the flights there weren't the most entertaining of flights." Clips were shown of Lexi and Isadora's argument, Brady unsuccessfully hitting on Rebecca, and the contestants that were in line to complain about the movie being interrupted.

"When they landed, they each had to use their skills to make their way inside the royal palace! Some used their speed…" A clip of Mitch already inside the palace, shushing Brady was shown. "Some used their feminine wiles…" A clip of Lily flirting with the guard was shown. "Some used their wits." A clip of Junior and Josh disguised as an older man was shown.

"Once inside, they had to try to grab paintings of yours truly while navigating through lasers, with Isadora and Jake securing the first place spot this week!" A clip of Isadora and Jake celebrating their victory was shown.

"However, all seemed lost when James cheated and sent Lexi and Xavier into a spiral that could have sent them home, but the two used their wits to make it to the finish line just before James's penalty ended up sending him and his partner home." A clip of Liam glaring at James was shown, as well as showing Lexi and Xavier's relief that they were safe from elimination.

"But buckle up, because this next episode will be a definite hotspot! Who will be the next duo to go home? Find out right here! On… The Ridonculous Race: Stranger Shuffle!"

* * *

After the theme song finished, Don had pressed the button on the randomizer, as the names of the thirty-two remaining contestants flashed quickly on the screen, "Round and round we go, where we stop; who the hell knows?"

The monitor knew, stopping on the new set of sixteen teams for the current challenge:

 **Blaine and Victor**

 **Rebecca and Davis**

 **Sam and Shakir**

 **Jake and Rosalina**

 **Isadora and Kayla**

 **Naoya and Junior**

 **Gertrude and Vanessa**

 **Scarlett and Rosa**

 **Danielle and Xavier**

 **Ethan and Brooke**

 **Josh and Mitch**

 **Charlotte and Brady**

 **Ash and Jackie**

 **Markus and Tai**

 **Melissa and Lexi**

 **Lily and Kelly**

"I think you guys know the drill," Don spoke, crossing his arms, "Jake and Rosalina, Isadora and Kayla; you may be the first to collect the Don Box tip."

Isadora placed her hand on the machine, before pulling out the tip and reading it, "You're headed to a beautiful place, but don't see it as a vacation… Hm… We're headed to Sri Lanka, it looks like!"

* * *

Don, standing in Sri Lanka which was obviously filmed later in the episode, said, "That's right, Isadora! Colombo, Sri Lanka! Where the area's hot, but the food's hotter! Our teams must arrive here to receive their next tip, which will lead them to the first of the their two challenges for this episode."

* * *

 **Team Confessional: Jake and Rosalina.**

"Talk about a pretty unique destination, huh?" Jake was a little surprised at the rarity of the country in shows like this, "I never would have guessed that we'd be headed to Sri Lanka, huh?"

"I'm… not too sure what continent Sri Lanka is even in…" Rosalina seemed a tad confused as well, before saying, "Oh! It's in Asia!" They were still a little confused, but neither of them bucked the idea at all.

* * *

After calling taxis, the sixteen teams had arrived at the airport. Instead of three flights, only two flights were booked this time.

Flight 1 carried Ash and Jackie, Blaine and Victor, Charlotte and Brady, Gertrude and Vanessa, Isadora and Kayla, Jake and Rosalina, Rebecca and Davis, and Sam and Shakir.

Flight 2 housed Danielle and Xavier, Ethan and Brooke, Josh and Mitch, Lily and Kelly, Markus and Tai, Melissa and Lexi, Naoya and Junior, and Scarlett and Rosa.

* * *

 **Flight 1.**

* * *

Blaine and Victor sat in silence, as Blaine was scrolling through his pictures. Victor fidgeted for a moment before finally turning to face his teammate.

"So, sport," he spoke, "How, err, are you enjoying the competition so far?"

Blaine turned and stared at Victor as if he had grown a second head. This was… weird, to say the least.

"I mean, yeah," the photographer nodded in agreement, his eyebrow arched, "I mean as much as a life-endangering competition can be, anyway. Are you okay?"

"Oh, I'm better than okay; I'm just peachy!" Victor tried to reply, before scowling, "Do I not look peachy to you?!"

"You rarely look peachy," a certain ex-intern entered the conversation, as Sam and Shakir sat in the row across from them, "So it's a normal occurence really."

"Did anyone ask you?!" Victor snapped at Sam.

"Here we go…" Blaine muttered under his breath as he went back to his camera.

"No, but I answered," Sam shrugged before asking, "Got a problem with that?"

"Dude, he has a problem with _everything_ ," was Shakir's response, snickering childishly at the scene unfolding before him.

"...I don't have a problem with anything," Victor finally replied, through gritted teeth and a forced smile, "Everything is hunky-dory."

Sam and Shakir shared a look of bewilderment, which was shared by Blaine looking at Victor in absolute confusion. Their collective thought seemed to be, "Is he sick or something?"

* * *

 **Team Confessional: Blaine and Victor.**

"Okay, man," Blaine spoke, turning towards the principal, "What's up? It isn't like you to try to be nice to anyone or anything."

"What's that supposed to mean?!" Victor asked, taking offense at what Blaine said.

"You always hate kids, dude, I don't know what to tell you," was Blaine's response, shaking his head, "Or anyone like… twenty years younger than you or more."

Victor grumbled before sighing, "Well, I want to win the prize money. I gotta at least _act_ like I'm getting along with you brats."

This only caused Blaine to look even more confused at Victor.

* * *

 **Team Confessional: Sam and Shakir.**

"Don't look now," Sam snarked, chuckling slightly, "But it looks like the apocalypse has finally begun. Old man Victor is actually trying to play ni-"

"THE APOCALYPSE?!" Shakir shouted, his eyes widening in fear, "And I'm five miles up in the air! I'm nowhere near my protective shelter!" With that, he ran outside of the confessional. Sam just watched Shakir leave, before staring wide-eyed at the camera.

* * *

" _Windmill, windmill for the land._

 _Turn forever hand in hand_

 _Take it all in on your stride_

 _It is sinking, falling down_

 _Love forever, love is free_

 _Let's turn forever, you and me_

 _Windmill, windmill for the land_

 _Is everybody in?"_

Rebecca's voice could be heard singing, as Davis personally performed the back-up beats and instruments with his own voice, nevertheless.

"Okay, I'll admit it," the rocker turned to the singer, "You really are the Lord of Accapella."

Davis gave an overdramatic bow and chuckled, "Did you expect anything less? However, your singing voice is just as nice, honestly."

"Thanks, dude," was Rebecca's sincere reply, "That's part of the whole rock star schtick, of course."

Meanwhile, a few rows away, two girls were messing around with a deck of cards that one of the girls, Kayla, had brought with her.

"Got any 3's?" Kayla asked, her legs crossed under her.

"Go fish," was Isadora's chill comment right back.

"Damn it!" by this point, Kayla had racked up around twelve cards in her hand alone.

"Okay, Kayla," Isadora giggled, shaking her head, "Don't you think you should probably give up?"

"No way," the pastel goth shook her head, "I've got this! Just you wait and see!"

* * *

 **Team Confessional: Isadora and Kayla.**

"...I don't think I've ever lost harder in my life," Kayla finally spoke, flatly, "Wow."

"I gave you a chance, you know," Isadora playfully teased her teammate.

* * *

At this point, Davis and Rebecca had walked over to see how the two's card game was going. Rebecca started snickering and Davis had to hold in a chuckle as well.

"Either Isadora's _really_ good," he spoke, "Or Kayla's _really_ bad."

"A little of both," Isadora spoke, laughing slightly.

"Shut uuuuup," Kayla childishly whined and crossed her arms, pouting.

"...Okay," Rebecca spoke up, arching an eyebrow, "I was pretty sure that you guys were playing poker, but _you lost in go fish?_ " Kayla gave a groan and dramatically, and playfully, slumped to the floor in defeat.

Rebecca turned to go back to her seat, but accidentally collided directly into Sam, who was getting up to use the bathroom.

"We've gotta stop meeting like this," Sam spoke, rubbing his head slightly. Kayla, Davis, and Isadora shared a look, before deciding to sneak away from the two for the time being.

"Uh, yeah," Rebecca replied with a slight nod, "We probably should."

"So, uh-" Both spoke at the same time, before falling silent for the moment.

"So… You think the Gorillaz are pretty neat?" he finally asked, grinning slightly at her.

"Feel Good Inc. is like the power ballad of anyone who grew up in the '90s and '00s," she replied, "So, of course I do."

* * *

 **Solo Confessional: Sam.**

"We ended up talking for quite a while," Sam noted, shaking his head, "But let me just say… I might think that Rebecca's pretty hot, but that isn't going to stop me from winning this prize money. At all. I'm not gonna pull a Noah this season." He determinedly cracked his knuckles and nodded to the camera.

* * *

 **Solo Confessional: Rebecca.**

"Okay, I'll admit it," Rebecca crossed her arms over her chest, "I may have a teensy crush on Sam, _but_ I'm going to take it slow. You know? Become friends first. That's really a lot more important here."

* * *

"So," Brady had relayed everything he had told James regarding his crush on Rebecca to his partner, Charlotte, "What do you think?"

"...Not to be rude, but why are you _telling_ me this?" Charlotte asked, a little exasperated. At least he was deciding to not be a jerk for once in his life. There was that.

"Because the last person I told got eliminated? Duh?" Brady replied, rolling his eyes, "So. Do I have a chance?"

Charlotte fell quiet for a moment before awkwardly giving Brady a thumbs up. He gave a fist pump in response, and got up to try once more to woo Vanessa. Charlotte, however, didn't seem all that sure of his abilities.

Meanwhile, across the way, Vanessa was shocked to learn something about Gertrude. And in her eyes, this just made her even cooler to her.

"You have a wife?" she asked, her eyes lighting up at this new information.

"That I do, dearie," Gertrude replied with a nod, "We got married not long after the law was passed."

"That's so awesome!" Vanessa exclaimed, putting a hand on her teammate's shoulder, "So? What's she like?"

"She keeps me in line," the African-American granny chuckled wryly, "She'll never admit it, but she really does enjoy keeping up with me. She's a precious soul and I love her with all of my heart."

"Awww," Vanessa cooed, loving every bit of this, "Well, I hope you guys have a really happy life together!"

"Only the good will die young, so we'll probably live to be 150 or so each," Gertrude chuckled, deviously. All this did was cause Vanessa to giggle in response.

The two then watched Brady walk away from Charlotte, leaving her by himself.

"Where's Frenchie going?" Vanessa asked Charlotte, looking towards her.

"Yeah, about that," Charlotte replied, shaking her head, "He's going to try to hit on Rebecca."

Gertrude looked over at Brady and then over at Rebecca, "Huh. She could do better."

"Really?" Vanessa asked, tilting her head slightly, "Brady's looks like a decent catch."

"Looks aren't everything," the granny shrugged. Vanessa nodded in agreement. Brady's attitude would be a definite turn-off, wouldn't it? Of course it would.

* * *

 **Solo Confessional: Charlotte.**

"I mean I couldn't just lie to him!" the aspiring actress told the confessional, "That wouldn't be right! ...Right?"

* * *

 **Team Confessional: Gertrude and Vanessa.**

"Would you have let him go through with it, Vanessa dear?" Gertrude asked, looking over at the flirty geek.

"...Probably not, no," she shook her head in response.

* * *

As Sam and Rebecca continued to talk to each other, they were quickly interrupted by Brady.

"Hey, good lookin'," he leaned slightly, before stumbling slightly, "What's cookin'?"

"Oh, God," Sam groaned in annoyance of this. So, Brady also had an interest in Rebecca, huh?

"...I'm talking to someone right now," was Rebecca's flat response.

"Yeah," Brady replied, before jerking a to point at himself, "Moi."

"Yeah, you came second, dude," Sam shook his head and crossed his arms, "Pretty rude."

Brady just blinked at Sam, before turning back to Rebecca, "So, how about we-"

"Come on, Sam," Rebecca said, standing up and absentmindedly grabbing Sam's hand, "Let's talk about music somewhere else."

As the two walked off, Brady just stood there, dumbfounded at what had just happened.

* * *

 **Solo Confessional: Brady.**

"What's he got that I don't got?" he asked, crossing his arms in annoyance, "There's no way that some _intern_ is better than someone like Brady Watterson! Just you watch out, Samuel." He pointed at the camera.

* * *

Vanessa had decided to stretch her legs for a moment, when she saw a certain pastel goth overdramatically sprawled out on the floor of the plane. She looked down at her, before crouching down to get to her level.

"Why do the hot ones always die so young?" she asked, teasing the goth slightly.

Kayla opened one eye and said, "Yooo, V," in greetings to the flirt.

"Why are you," she motioned at Kayla sprawled out on the floor, "Doing _this_?"

"I lost at a card game," she sat up and shrugged, "So I'm showing my lament." The perky tone that she had seemed to show that she held no hard feelings for it, however.

"So, basically, you're trying to keep it interesting around here, huh?" Vanessa asked, catching onto it.

"Right on the nose!" Kayla playfully pointed a finger gun at Vanessa, "The last thing that I want is for this competition to be boring. So if I have to act the clown, hey! I'll do it!"

"Right, right," Vanessa replied, smiling slightly, "But you probably should get off of the floor before someone tries to run you down, pastel girl."

Kayla turned red slightly and nodded, giggling sheepishly, "Yeeeeeah, I probably should, huh?"

Meanwhile, Ash was surprised to learn that her partner was trying to be almost as environmentally friendly as she was herself.

"So, you support the saving of our oceans?" Ash asked, raising an eyebrow at the overachiever.

"Of course," was Jackie's simple response, "The last thing we need is for our oceans to completely be polluted. Especially for how it'll affect our animals and our ecosystem."

Ash was quiet for a moment before dryly saying, "You. I like you. You're pretty chill. Well. When you're not being an overachiever and all."

"What's wrong with being an overachiever?" Jackie asked with a shrug, "Underachieving won't get you anywhere in life. Especially not in this competition."

"Eh," Ash shrugged, "Fair enough." With that, the two went back to idly chatting.

Meanwhile, someone else was actually humoring Rosalina for once, as Jake was reading one of her doujins.

"You know," he mused, "I might be straight, but this isn't half bad. I have no idea how this is going to end- Sex. It ends in sex, apparently."

"Well drawn intercourse, too," Rosalina replied, looking proud of this.

"I don't think you should know about this stuff," he chuckled amusedly.

"Hey, the internet exists, doesn't it?" she asked with a shrug.

Ash, who overheard the conversation, snickered slightly. The more straight-laced Jackie, however, just rolled her eyes. Talk about a weird conversation.

* * *

 **Team Confessional: Ash and Jackie.**

"Come on, you couldn't have found that even a little funny?" Ash asked, nudging Jackie lightly.

"I have no interest in who knows about sex or not," Jackie replied sternly, "After all, I _am_ asexual."

"...Oh, shit, whoops," Ash shook her head, "Sorry about that."

"It's fine," she spoke with a curt nod.

* * *

 **Solo Confessional: Jake.**

"Rosalina's only thirteen, so people should look out for her," Jake told the camera, "...But obviously to do so, the first thing she needs is the internet taken away from her. At _least_ until she's sixteen, you know?"

* * *

 **Solo Confessional: Rosalina.**

"Jake's pretty nice," Rosalina said cheerfully, "I mean, no one else has read through my stuff with such fervor! Maybe if all goes well, I can get these bad boys published!" She patted on her notebook happily.

* * *

 **Flight 2.**

* * *

"You're kidding," Kelly whispered in shock when she was told something by Lily.

Lily shook her head and whispered back, "No. From what I understand, Scarlett is looking for an alliance. That seems like a poor idea since she _did_ try to destroy Pahkitew Island."

"Like, seriously," Kelly replied, "So… What would happen if someone did make an alliance with her?"

"She'd dominate the game is my only guess," Lily gave a frown, "She already is arguably the smartest of us, and the only two that even come close are Markus and Jackie."

Kelly widened her eyes at the mention of Markus, "Would he be… a threat to her?"

"I won't say that he couldn't be," Lily gave a weary sigh and shook her head again.

The cheerleader sat in her seat, deciding to think that over. She wasn't going to let one of her friends go home because Scarlett sabotaged the challenge or something. "We all have to work together to make sure that doesn't happen."

"I agree," Lily replied with a smile, "Shall we go warn him and Tai about what's going on?" When Kelly nodded, Lily's smile broadened. All according to plan.

Speaking of Markus and Tai, the former was doing a set of equations, while the latter was idly shuffling through a deck of cards. They both looked up when Kelly and Lily approached them.

"Uh, hey guys," Markus looked up and asked, "Do you guys need anything?"

"Scarlett," Kelly said, simply.

Markus tilted his head slightly, "What about her?"

"We have reason to believe that she's trying to form an alliance with a lot of the heavyhitters," Lily explained, putting on a long frown, "I heard so myself."

Tai thought about using his dust to ask for more information on this, but he knew that since Scarlett was currently on their flight, it could easily backfire on him. Then _he'd_ be the person she'd focus on getting out. Thus, Tai stayed silent.

"...How do you know this?" Markus asked, feeling a little off about this, "I mean, who would trust her?"

"She's a strong player," Kelly explained, "I'm pretty sure that people would trust her skills, like, a lot!"

"Not to mention that she could strike fear into anyone who said no," Lily added, shaking her head wistfully, "So we need to know that neither of you will ally with her. Deal?"

The two boys looked at each other and then back at the two girls and gave them a nod.

* * *

 **Solo Confessional: Lily.**

"The setup's complete," Lily smiled for the camera, her hands clasped together, "Now to wait to see what the challenges are and hope it's something that Scarlett does not excel at. The last thing that I want is for us to achieve the ultimate bad ending here, after all." Despite her innocent demeanor, a more malicious mood seemed to radiate off of her.

* * *

 **Solo Confessional: Markus.**

"Something about that was really fishy," Markus mused, before shaking his head, "But… Right now, I need to do what's best for me and best for my mom. And if that means letting everyone know about Scarlett's plans then I guess… So be it."

* * *

Speaking of Scarlett, her actual plan of attempting to get an ally was beginning to look more flawed and less likely by the day.

"You'll become my ally or you'll suffer the consequences," she roughly hissed to Rosa. If anything, this would get her _one_ ally.

"O-okay, I'll be in an alliance with you!" Rosa finally admitted, whispering to the genius, "Okay?"

"Perfect," Scarlett, almost on the turn of a dime, had decided to calm down, "Just absolutely perfect." She flashed a smile to Rosa, but Rosa could only flash an awkward one back to her. This was already looking pretty bad, wasn't it? But it wasn't like she had much of a choice in the matter right now. However, for a moment, she could have sworn that Lily was watching them.

A couple of rows behind them was the two British contestants, Danielle and Xavier, having a nice talk.

"I think I've heard of your dad's detective company before," Danielle mentioned with a hum, "Millstone?"

"That's the one," Xavier replied with a calm nod, saying the company's slogan, "'If your case has hit rock bottom, call Millstone.'"

"Right," Danielle nodded, before asking, "But if you don't mind me asking, why would a detective be competing on a reality show?"

Xavier gave a low hum, "Do you want the pretty answer or the truth?"

"The truth would be ideal," the animal child replied, laughing slightly.

"I'm extremely bored with what I do day in and day out," he admitted, "I want to see the world. I want to meet new people. I want to make fr- ...Nevermind."

"Make friends?" Danielle asked, finishing his sentence.

"...In a manner of speaking, yes."

Danielle extended her hand and reintroduced herself, "My name's Danielle. Ace wildlife enthusiast. From this point on, we're friends."

Xavier looked down to her extended hand before looking back at her and smiling lightly. Taking her hand, he shook it. "A pleasure to re-meet you, Danielle. The name is Xavier Millstone, Ace Detective."

The two were then interrupted by someone saying, "Hey!" They turned to face Scarlett, who mouthed if she wanted to join Scarlett in an alliance. The two Brits shared a glance before shaking their heads at the other Brit. Scarlett then gave a groan in annoyance when they did so.

* * *

 **Team Confessional: Scarlett and Rosa.**

"Like it matters," Scarlett finally gave up for the time being, "As long as Rosa's by my side, that's a decent start."

"Uh, yeah, sure," Rosa replied, not so sure about this at all. But she felt as if she had no choice.

* * *

 **Team Confessional: Danielle and Xavier.**

"Rosa's allying herself with Scarlett?" Xavier asked about the teammate he had back in episode one, "I… don't see how this could be at all."

"Scarlett's intimidating," Danielle replied, shaking her head, "She probably had little to no choice."

"...A pity," Xavier frowned.

* * *

Over with Ethan and Brooke, the two were talking amongst themselves, as Ethan looked over at Brooke's notes for her new novel.

"So, are you gonna base any characters off any of us?" Ethan asked, with a grin.

Brooke mused for a second, "Hm... I guess that wouldn't be that bad of an idea, would it? But the question would be, how would I adapt everyone to paper? I do have the thought of making Blaine the protagonist."

"Blaine?" Ethan asked in confusion, "Why him?"

Brooke pursed her lips and furrowed her brow, "Honestly? I'm not so sure why myself."

Ethan looked over at the bookworm before shrugging, "Ooh! You should definitely make Victor the antagonist!"

"...That's not a bad idea-"

"A giant lizard antagonist!"

"...Uh-"

"A giant lizard with giant electricity spawning horns and fire breath and like really rancid feet and-" As Ethan rattled off different ideas, Brooke just watched him in awe. In a way, she wished that she could be that talkative and outgoing.

Meanwhile, Josh was hoping he could get _his_ teammate to be much more talkative and outgoing but wasn't quite getting that out of him.

"Soooo," he spoke, turning to the hooded figure, "Mitch."

"That's what my parents named me," he spoke, bluntly.

"Haha, yeeeeaaah," Josh awkwardly tried to laugh at what he thought was a joke from the boy, "Say. Since we're working together, how about we get to know each other?"

Mitch turned towards Josh and said nothing to begin with before saying, "I was born on a new moon, during a tornado. After the death of my father just hours beforehand, I was born, my mother bleeding out not much later. After being left on a doorstop, I was taken in by a hunched over old man with one eye in an abandoned castle-"

"Great!" Josh clapped his hands together, "Uh. I'm glad we had this talk. I'll be, uh… Over here." With that, the comedian took off.

Mitch sat there for a moment before smirking and saying to the camera, "That was all totally a lie."

As Josh left, he ended up going to sit next to Brooke, who was now alone, since Ethan had decided to go bother Xavier for a little bit.

"...My teammate is really creepy," he spoke, turning to the bookworm, "And I have no clue if he's just kidding around, or if he's really… him."

Brooke looked up at Josh and asked, "Mitch? I… don't think he's _completely_ serious. I mean, don't you think that's kind of a defense mechanism?"

"A defense mechanism?" Josh repeated, before stopping for a minute. Like his comedy was sometimes? It… made sense.

"I think there's a lot more about a lot of us than Don would ever say," Brooke mused quietly, "Honestly."

Josh was quiet for a moment before nodding. He almost thought about telling Brooke about why he was competing, but then again, he decided that now may not be the best time at all. Instead, he decided to change the subject, "So. Sri Lanka."

* * *

 **Solo Confessional: Brooke.**

"I might be pretty quiet," she spoke to the camera, "But I also think that I understand people pretty well. Mitch might be strange, but I think Josh might see a lot of… himself? Inside of Mitch, too."

* * *

 **Solo Confessional: Josh.**

"Alright," the tragic comedian hyped himself up, "I'm going to see if I can crack through anything inside of Mitch this episode. Hell, I'm sure that there's more to Mitch than creepy non-sequiturs and hiding under his hood, right?"

* * *

Meanwhile, near the back of the plane, Ethan had went up to Xavier, as Danielle currently had taken a quick nap to have the long flight get over quicker.

Xavier looked up from the book he was reading and asked, "To what prank do I owe the pleasure of this visit today?"

"Nah, no prank today," the prankster shook his head, "I mean, Danielle's asleep and that'd be hella rude."

"Hella quite," was the detective's response, "So. We've survived two eliminations so far."

"Yep!" Ethan replied with a grin, "Sixteen more to go!"

"Perhaps," Xavier shrugged, "But wouldn't it make a little more sense if some contestants returned to the competition? Perhaps not as late in as Geoff and Brody did last season, but still."

"Huh," Ethan tapped his lip slightly, "You might be right, dude."

"Might be?" he smirked and crossed his arms, "No, no. I'm always right."

"Yet you fell for something as simple as a banana peel," was the prankster's snickering retort.

"That was an unfair moment to bring up," Xavier sputtered, trying to defend himself, "That time did not count in the least."

"Yeah, it did," was Ethan's simple response which caused Xavier to groan slightly.

* * *

Having went to go find Mitch again, Josh had found himself in the very same issue Lexi had been in two episodes beforehand. As usual, the swift ninja-like boy had disappeared once again. Right when Josh was going to try to probe his mind to see if he can get anything out of him, too.

"Hey, Tai!" Josh called, turning towards the magician, who had gotten up to get peanuts, "Have you seen Mitch?"

Tai shook his head. But then again, it was hard to find Mitch a lot of the time to begin with. So it wasn't like this was a normal occurrence or anything.

"Great," he sighed, "Right when I was going to try to bond with him too."

Tai took off his hat and dug around for dust, spraying it in the air, the dust igniting and saying, " _Let him be. He'll probably appear closer to when the challenge starts."_

"Good point," Josh nodded in response before asking, "Hey. How exactly do you do that anyway?"

Tai mused for a moment before grabbing another handful of dust and spreading it, saying, " _A magician never tells his secrets, Josh. Just like a comedian wouldn't tell anyone the secrets behind their comedy."_

Josh shrugged, "Fair enough. Hey. Mind if I chill next to you for a moment? I've been wanting to talk to you for a while, but I've never really gotten around to it. As long as you don't accidentally light me ablaze, that is."

Tai looked over at Josh. They weren't even teammates, yet Josh wanted to go out of his way to talk to him. A grin spreading on his face, he nodded in affirmation to the gesture.

A few rows away, Junior was trying to introduce Naoya to pop culture outside of what you could see on television. It… wasn't quite working.

"So, these me-mes…."

"They're memes, Naoya," Junior corrected, holding an index finger in the air.

"I don't quite get them," the rich kid shook his head, "This one that you've mentioned in particular… Why throughout the whole month of October do people talk about a skeleton war? I've never heard of a skeleton war before."

"I think you might need to give it a rest, Junior," Lexi, who was sitting in front of the two boys and next to Melissa, stated, "The 1% probably doesn't get it."

Naoya frowned, "It isn't quite my fault that I was born rich, you know."

"Don't take it that way," Lexi shook her head, "I understand that pretty well, you know."

"How do you understand rich people problems?" Junior asked, arching an eyebrow at the punk.

"...That might be another story for another day, but let's just say that I do understand," Lexi replied, turning back to Naoya, "If you don't get eliminated and we get paired up, I promise that I'll tell you, Naoya. Deal?"

Naoya tilted his head slightly before nodding, "Sure. I think that's a great business deal!"

"Not quite a business deal, but hey," Lexi shrugged and smirked, "Close enough."

"And you won't tell me?" Junior asked, faux-pouting, only to get his hat brushed aside and his hair ruffled by the punk, "Hey!"

"I couldn't help it," she stated bluntly, before turning towards Melissa, "...You're pretty quiet, you know that?"

Melissa opened and closed her mouth before explaining, "I'm… not sure what to say? Watch out in the competition?"

The three looked at each other for a moment before Naoya asked, "Was that supposed to be a threat? Because I'm hardly scared."

"Yeah, I see that," Melissa rubbed the back of her neck, "I think today's just an off-day."

"Well, cheer up," Lexi bumped the side of Melissa's arm lightly with her fist, "Looks like you're amongst friends here, so you don't have to be so quiet, you know?"

"Around friends?" the usually "manipulative" girl asked, widening her eyes slightly.

"None of us are shunning you, right?" Lexi asked, raising an eyebrow.

"We're kind of an odd group anyway," Junior shrugged, "I'm the youngest around here, Lexi's a punk, and Naoya is the definition of clueless."

"Hey!"

"What he means is, as long as you don't eliminate us or anything, we think you're chill," was what Lexi said to Melissa.

Melissa was quiet for a moment before blushing from all of the kind words the three (well mostly two) had given her and turned away, "Right. But you guys need to remember that world domination comes first and then our friendship comes second." The others realized that this was probably the best that they would get out of the girl.

* * *

 **Team Confessional: Junior and Naoya.**

"I'm not _that_ clueless," the rich kid huffed, crossing his arms.

"Dude," Junior spoke, chuckling, "If you looked up clueless in the dictionary, guess what you'd see a picture of? ...Well, my dad, but you'd be a quick second for sure."

* * *

 **Solo Confessional: Lexi.**

"I don't see much wrong with Melissa," she shrugged it off, "I mean, sure. She wants to be evil. But I don't think she could dominate a McDonald's, not less the entire world."

* * *

 **Solo Confessional: Melissa.**

"Friends…" Melissa mused for a second before shaking it off, "No, no. I was told that the only way to be liked was to push other people away. I won't let this get in the way of my plans! No way, Jose!"

* * *

"Mitch!" Josh called out again, this time alongside Tai, which got Lexi's attention. Standing up from the four, she walked over to the comedian.

"Lose something?" she asked, smirking.

"I'll give you three guesses and the first two don't count," Josh joked slightly, "But it's cool. Tai's helping me look." Tai gave a nod in reply.

"Ah," Lexi replied with a nod of her own, "Do you guys need any help? I can lend a hand or two, I guess."

"Nah, we've got it," Josh shook his head and grinned, "Thanks, though, Lexi! C'mon, magic man, we've got a Mitch to find."

With that, the two boys headed off and left Lexi standing there. She pursed her lips for a second, feeling an odd pang run through her chest, but she shook it off. She turned and screamed, Mitch suddenly standing beside her.

"Where the hell did you come from?!" she exclaimed at the boy.

"...Why do people keep asking me that question?" was Mitch's deadpan reply.

* * *

"Flight 1, holding the first eight teams, has touched down in Colombo, Sri Lanka, as the race is on to get the first Don Box tip," Don's voice narrated as the first sixteen contestants flooded out of the airport.

In comparison to Copenhagen's rustic and flowery feel, Colombo was much more of a city and had beaches dotting the city at different points. As the teams ran to get to the Don Box, one team was able to make it there first.

Ash put her hand on the Don Box, and pulled out the ticket, as Jackie watched her read it, "It's a Botch or Watch. Whoever is holding this ticket must eat one of Sri Lanka's hottest cuisines, no matter how hot it burns their mouth. ... _Great…_ "

Don stood inside a restaurant, "To be exact, they must come _here_ to this restaurant and try Sri Lanka's staple dish."

A waitress put down the so-called staple dish as Don read off the ingredients, "Rice and curry with coconut milk, a _vast_ assortment of hot chillies, curry leaves, cinnamon, garlic, and a _really_ strong pinch of sun-dried tuna. Really potent to foreigners and known as one of the most flavorful and spicy dishes in all of Asia! Bon appetit!"

The first eight teams had made their way to the restaurant, and were already divided into who had to Botch and who had to Watch. The contestants who had to do it was Ash, Blaine, Charlotte, Gertrude, Isadora, Jake, Rebecca, and Sam.

Jake looked down at the spicy hot meal and gulped. If it was one of the spiciest foods in Asia, it seemed a little worrying in his opinion.

"I probably should have been able to do this challenge," his young Asian teammate, Rosalina, mused, before encouraging him, "But I know you can do it, Jake! Believe in yourself!"

"Believe in myself…" Jake chanted, taking a spoon and getting ready to try the dish, "Believe in myself…"

One touch to Jake's tongue set his entire mouth on fire, as he exclaimed, "Water! Rosalina! Water!"

"Water! Right!" Rosalina nodded, before splashing Jake in the face with it.

"No, in my mouth!" Jake continued fanning himself, now completely wet as well.

* * *

 **Solo Confessional: Rosalina.**

"Hey," she shrugged, "The comically splashing someone in the face with water is kind of a trope you have to use here." She then apologized, "Sorry, Jake! ...Oh, right, water!" She stood up and ran out of the confessional.

* * *

Jackie and one of the Sri Lankan waitresses watched in awe as Ash, despite her grunts in pain from the hot meal, was downing with little problems, even putting it up to her lips and downing it. Somehow, she was pushing through despite the pain.

"AAAAAH," Ash exclaimed in pain as she set the bowl down, "DONE. TIP. GO."

Jackie took the tip from the waitress, as Ash was currently downing a whole pitcher of water. The overachiever read, "Now that you've survived boiling hot food, we're going to put you in hot water. We have evacuated Beira Lake and… filled it with crocodiles?"

"DOUBLE GREAT," Ash screamed, as she spilled water down her chin from what Jackie had read off.

Don, standing next to an alligator at one end of Beira Lake, said, "Yep! Our teams must take a taxi to one side of Beira Lake, get in a canoe, and row to me at the Chill Zone on the other side of the lake to be safe. The first team to get here gets the next headstart, while the last team to arrive will be cut from the competition."

"We did it!" Brady exclaimed when Charlotte finished her dish.

She took a drink of water before asking, "We? I actually don't remember _us_ doing anything, Brady. It was- ow- a Botch or Watch."

"Yeah, yeah," he waved her off, "I'll make up for it next challenge, capiche?" He already had the next tip in hand and paused for a moment, "However, the next challenge _does_ have alligators…"

"I'm not doing all the work," Charlotte vehemently stopped Brady right there, "You're going to do just as much work as I do."

"Fine," he conceded, "Come on. Let's beat the rest of the teams there." He ran towards the door and Charlotte followed after him, before coming back and decided to take her glass of water with her, her mouth still burning from the hot and spicy curry.

Unlike several of the other contestants, Sam had finished his meal without barely even flinching. The two teams who were near him, Rebecca and Davis and Blaine and Victor, all stared at him like he had grown a new head or something.

"How did he-" Davis began, pointing towards Sam incredulously.

" _He has satan inside of him_ ," was Victor's grumbling addition.

* * *

 **Solo Confessional: Sam.**

"Yeah, no," Sam shook his head and crossed his arms, "Number one, I do _not_ have Victor inside of me. Thank goodness. But I _was_ an intern on Total Drama. We had to try a lot of the meals that Chef Hatchet forced on the other campers. Think about it, man. You build up immunity to it."

* * *

Shakir had begun eating a bowl of the dish on his own accord, and didn't seem to be bothered by it either. Although, since it _was_ Shakir, that was probably for a reason of his own accord. "Now this?" he asked aloud, "Is good eats!"

"Get it to go," Sam told his teammate, as he read the tip, "We have a date with alligators, man."

"The only date I'd wanna go on, to be honest," Shakir laughed and stood up, "Let's do this!"

Sam turned to the other teams, "Good luck, guys. I'm sure it isn't all that bad." He then turned to Rebecca specifically and said, "Good luck."

Rebecca waved him off as he went on and looked down at the spicy food. She shared a glance with Blaine before she decided to finally dig in and give it her best shot. Blaine, however, didn't seem so enthusiastic to get started.

"This really seems like a bad idea," Blaine spoke, frowning at the dish.

"WHAT?!" Victor slammed his hands on the table and glared at Blaine, before clearing his throat and trying to calm down, "No, err, what I meant to say was… WHAT?!"

"Come on," Davis turned to face the photographer, "You can do it. It's just a bowl of hot food. I'm sure it'd not even as close to what Don's making it out to be."

Meanwhile, in the background, Davis heard Rebecca scream, " _This is_ _ **worse**_ _than what Don is making it out to be!"_

"You two aren't even on the same team!" Victor added in the chorus, crossing his arms and glaring at Blaine and Davis.

"...I guess I might as well give it a shot," Blaine decided after hearing what Davis would have to say, "Here goes something."

A sip. A slurp. A few seconds passed.

"THIS IS LIKE HELL HAS COME TO REST INSIDE MY MOUTH!"

* * *

 **Solo Confessional: Davis.**

"This… This is going to take a while," Davis said, sighing, "But hey. Rebecca seems to be getting used to the heat, so that's good!"

From outside, he could hear the rocker say, " _I'm definitely not getting used to the heat at all!"_

* * *

 **Solo Confessional: Victor.**

"That Davis kid needs to worry about his own teammates," the balding principal grumbled, "Blaine can handle this on his own. Or he SHOULD. I ain't being nice on him because I'm getting PAID for it."

He then paused, "Wait. I kinda am, aren't I?"

* * *

Vanessa looked on in horror. The unthinkable had finally happened. The one thing that she, and several other contestants thought would never happen.

Something had actually bested Gertrude.

"More- _hack_ \- water, dearie!" the granny asked the girl as she continued to try to survive the issue she had regarding the hot dish. She continued to give her another glass of water, but things were not looking on the up and up for them at that moment.

She felt a hand on her shoulder and turned around to see none other than Kayla and Isadora looking at her.

"You guys are already done?" she asked in surprise.

Isadora flexed playfully and said, "Latina blood doesn't run through my veins for nothing! Spicy food can't best me, even if it was a lot hotter than I was used to!"

"We're going on ahead," Kayla told her, "Don't worry. Granny G's a lot tougher than she looks." A harrowed look crossed the pastel goth's face, " _Trust me._ "

"Either of you going to save me a kiss for the finish line?" Vanessa teased, trying to look at the up and up here.

Isadora and Kayla shared a glance before playfully blowing Vanessa kisses and moving on. Vanessa pretended to catch them and hold them to her chest, before turning towards Gertrude who said, "A _lot_ more- _huff-_ water, dearie."

* * *

 **Solo Confessional: Vanessa.**

"We're doomed, aren't we?" she sighed, but regardless said, "No. I've got at least two people who said they want to see me not eliminated. So once Gertrude is able to survive the rest of this, we'll give it our all!"

* * *

"As Ash and Jackie, Sam and Shakir, Charlotte and Brady, and Isadora and Kayla move on to the next leg of the competition, the second flight has touched down in Sri Lanka and the rest of the contestants have arrived to compete in the Botch or Watch!" Don's voice narrated as a clip showed the rest of the teams running two-by-two into the restaurant.

This time around, the ones competing in the Botch or Watch were Danielle, Ethan, Josh, Lily, Markus, Melissa, Naoya, and Scarlett.

"...How did- What did- _Huh?!_ " Junior was currently staring at Naoya incredulously. While he had complained about it a couple of minutes beforehand, he actually finished his dish with little to no problems.

"Oh, it'll come back to bite me," Naoya replied, saying, "I can already feel me getting heartburn. _Ugh…_ " Instead of feeling burned inside and out, he was beginning to feel a little nauseous instead.

"Then we need to get going," Junior pulled Naoya to his feet and began to pull him towards the exit of the restaurant, "We kinda need to get past the alligators before your heartburn _really_ sets in, man."

"...Wait, alli-what now?" Naoya seemed concerned that the next challenge involved alligators but was continued to be dragged off by Junior, nevertheless.

Meanwhile, Lily was taking her time at trying to eat the dish, only taking small bites and interchanging it with intervals of water.

"Five teams are already on the second challenge," Kelly reminded her, "We've got to catch up!"

"We have no- ow- rush, Kelly," Lily replied, as she took another bite of the dish, "I can promise you that I have this situation completely- _nnn_ \- under control."

Kelly looked at the Native American girl with a look of uncertainty, "Are you sure about that? I mean…"

"I'm absolutely positive," she replied to Kelly, "Now. Would you mind doing a cheer to cheer me on while I continue?"

Kelly grinned, "I'm glad you asked, teammate!"

As Kelly began to perform a cheer for her teammate, another team was also struggling to get going regarding the challenge.

"You're actually being patient with me?" Ethan asked, turning to face Brooke.

Brooke nodded, "I don't think that we'll be the next contestants eliminated, so I think we're fine. Take as much time as you need for now."

The prankster grinned at the bookworm, "Say. You're alright, Brooke."

The girl smiled back in response. To her, making more friends in the competition was really nice.

"Soooo…" he drawled out, "Why did you pick Blaine to be the protagonist of your novel?" Brooke frowned and shook her head, refraining from saying a word about that to Ethan.

* * *

 **Team Confessional: Ethan and Brooke.**

"I heard someone say that being Latino or Latina meant we could stand this just a moment ago," Ethan said to Brooke, "Isadora, was it?"

"Yeah?" Brooke did hear that as they walked in.

"Yeah, no, this is way too hot for me," Ethan replied, shaking his head slightly.

* * *

"There's gotta be a way to make this less spicy… Maybe if I…"

Rosa interrupted Scarlett and said, "Um… You know… That's why Liam and James got eliminated less episode, right? Finding a way around the challenge?"

"Not exactly," Scarlett adjusted her glasses, "No, they downright _cheated_ and almost got the punk and the detective eliminated if my memory serves correctly."

"Isn't that the same thing?" Rosa asked, shaking her head slightly.

"...Drat," Scarlett muttered under her breath, "I suppose I'll have to live with the spiciness on its own now, won't I?"

"You know, when you say 'drat' like that, you kinda sound like Peridot from Ste-"

"Quiet," Scarlett glared slightly at the other girl, as she began to try to eat the food.

* * *

"Burning… Burning, burning, _burning…"_

Markus had his mouth open, trying to fan himself now that he had finished the dish. Tai stood there for a moment before digging around in his pockets, pulling out a flower and spraying water into the workaholic's mouth.

"...Thank you," Markus replied to the magician, who simply bowed in response to Tai giving him some water, "So, uh… What does the next tip read?"

Tai looked at the tip and paled slightly.

"That's not a good sign, is it?" Markus asked.

The magician shook his head.

"It's death defying, isn't it?" he asked again.

The magician nodded.

Markus gave a sigh, but regardless said, "We might as well get going."

As the two boys ran on, Josh watched them run by and gave a nod to Tai before turning back to the dish in front of him. He mentally decided that he would just keep pressing forward. The quicker he ate the dish, the quicker they could continue on with the challenge. Taking as many bites as quickly as he could, he quickly finished the dish and quickly downed it with a glass of water.

" _That's a spicy meatball,"_ he half panted, half joked.

Meanwhile, his teammate gave a slow clap. Josh turned to Mitch in utter surprise that the hooded boy showed something close to emotion. Regardless, Mitch had grabbed the tip and already was going onto the next challenge. Josh looked at the camera for a moment before running after him.

* * *

 **Solo Confessional: Mitch.**

"The fact that Josh has now tasted hellfire makes me appreciate him as a partner," Mitch was blunt, "Through the pain, he pushed through. I can respect that."

* * *

Lexi watched Josh and Mitch run by, as she watched Melissa keep attempting to finish the dish. While the girl was whining and exclaiming in pain every once in a while, she was still trucking on regardless.

"You can do it," Lexi cheered her on in her own way, "You're almost there."

"I can feel my sins crawling on my back," the girl overdramatically wailed as she continued to eat.

"Well, tell your sins to take a number and get in line," was the punk's answer.

Melissa gave a weak nod as she continued to eat. Before long, however, she actually finished the dish, before slamming her head on the table and mumbling, "Done."

"You okay?" Lexi asked, as she held the tip, "Need a break?"

Melissa shook her head and waved her hand dismissively, "Let's… just get the second challenge over with."

Lexi nodded as Melissa stood up, and the two girls ran off to join seven other teams with starting the second challenge.

Meanwhile, Danielle and Xavier were currently taking their time, seeing that other teams weren't doing any better than they were.

"Are you sure you're okay with me taking my time?" Danielle asked her teammate.

Xavier gave a nod and a shrug, "I'm patient. Besides, I know that I couldn't do the challenge myself without taking probably even longer."

"Fair enough," she nodded and took another bite before scrunching up her facial features at the heat.

"How hot is it?" the detective asked in curiosity.

"Do you know how fiery hot sauce is?" Danielle asked when she was able to speak again.

"Yeah?" Xavier asked in response.

Danielle laughed slightly between the hot surges, "Think that, but probably ten times hotter."

"That's hot," Xavier dryly teased, causing Danielle to laugh and reply with, "You think?"

* * *

"Eight teams are starting the second challenge," Don narrated, as eight teams began to row across the alligator infested lake in canoes, "This is where the race already begins. Can the teams make it to the other side with one of their own already weakened from the previous challenge?"

The teams that had arrived for the second challenge were Ash and Jackie, Charlotte and Brady, Isadora and Kayla, Josh and Mitch, Markus and Tai, Melissa and Lexi, Naoya and Junior, and Sam and Shakir.

However, three teams happened to be much further ahead than the rest of the crowd.

"They're catching up!" Kayla exclaimed as she continued to row. Isadora, who was also rowing, turned back to see both Markus and Tai and Melissa and Lexi catching up with them.

"Not when I shift into maximum overdrive!" Isadora replied in response. Just then, however, her oar was suddenly chomped down upon by an alligator, "...Bummer." She went to grab one of the extra oars in the canoe.

"That was just rude!" Kayla replied, taking her oar and bopping the reptile on the nose with it, "Bad gator!"

However, during all of the two girls's excitement, the other two teams behind them had made their way past them.

"Can't… go… on…" Melissa panted, as she began to slow down somewhat and the other team began to pass the two girls.

"You can't give up now," Lexi replied, turning back towards her, "We're so close to the finish line! A _true_ antagonist wouldn't give up yet, you know!"

Melissa paused for a second before a determined look crossed her face. Beginning to put all of her energy into her rowing, she began to row faster and faster.

"We're almost to the-" Markus was interrupted when the flirty punk and failed manipulator rowed past them and onto the shore, "-End."

"Lexi and Melissa," Don greeted the two girls as they reached the Chill Zone, "You two are the first two contestants to arrive. You two will receive a headstart in the next challenge!"

"We did it!" Melissa cheered, embracing Lexi in a hug. The punk felt awkward that she was suddenly being hugged, but regardless patted her partner on the shoulder.

"Markus and Tai?" Don asked as the two arrived on shore, "Not bad. Second place."

* * *

 **Team Confessional: Markus and Tai.**

"Well, second place is better than nothing," Markus shrugged, deciding to take the placement that they were given. Tai gave a quiet nod in agreement.

* * *

"Isadora and Kayla," Don spoke, as the explorer and pastel goth arrived on shore, "Third place."

"Well, I got first last time, so," Isadora didn't seem all that disheartened at all that she got third place.

"Bronze is still a really good placement anyway," Kayla agreed, with a nod.

The other teams all did their best across the water, each team working to different varying degrees from each other.

Ash and Jackie, both being extremely hard-hitting players, worked extremely well in tandem. Jackie did have some thoughts about bashing some of the reptiles like Kayla did, but Ash kept her from doing so. After all, they _were_ just agitated animals out of their usual ecosystem. The two girls claimed fourth place.

Shakir had rolled around in mud and had made himself be alligator bait, which had inadvertently caused Sam to have to work extra hard to get them across the lake. Of course, this had inadvertently been a good thing as the two scored fifth place.

Sixth place went to Charlotte and Brady, due to the fact that Brady actually decided to give his all to get them across the water. After all, neither of them wanted to be alligator chow. Plus, it wasn't good for the alligator's diets.

* * *

 **Team Confessional: Charlotte and Brady.**

"Why can't you work this well in every challenge?" Charlotte asked the French teen, tilting her head slightly.

"Eh," Brady shrugged, "Gotta keep my teammates on my toes, y'know?" Charlotte then turned and stared at the confessional cam as if she was on The Office.

* * *

Josh and Mitch had a pretty solid placement, landing in seventh place. Either way, they were in the first half of the placements. Junior, despite he and Naoya coming in eighth place, had to do most of the work because of Naoya's sudden heartburn and nausea, causing the boy to end up groaning and just sitting awkwardly in the boat.

By this point, the other eight teams had started the second challenge as well. And they fared somewhere between better or worse when it came to how they handled the challenge.

Coming in around five minutes behind Naoya and Junior was Rebecca and Davis, who, surprisingly to everyone else, had _sung_ to the alligators to soothe them in a rousing edition of a certain Total Drama World Tour song.

 _"It's rowin' time!_

 _Vanquishin', vanquishin'!_

 _Crocodile season!"_

"...Well, technically, these are alligators," Rebecca remembered.

"...Either way," Davis shrugged.

* * *

 **Team Confessional: Rebecca and Davis.**

"You know, it's an utter shame that this wasn't a musical season," Davis sighed slightly, "I would have loved a World Tour take on the Ridonculous Race."

"Ridonculous Race: Ridonculous Encore," Rebecca added, pitching a title to the show with a grin, "It'd sell like hotcakes, I can assure you."

* * *

Tenth place went to Jake and Rosalina, who did their best to make their way over to the other side of the lake. Behind them in eleventh was Danielle and Xavier, who had kept up their calm pace, actually talking and bonding a little more over being born in nearby hometowns from each other.

Twelfth place was Blaine and Victor, who both seemed just glad to not come in last.

* * *

 **Team Confessional: Blaine and Victor.**

"Well, I see the competitions aren't letting up now that we're four episodes in," Blaine noted with his arms crossed.

"What's next?" Victor asked, scowling, "So-"

"Please don't jinx us," Blaine shook his head.

* * *

Don watched as Ethan and Brooke claimed thirteenth place and announced, "Three teams remain on the water! Which teams will be going home? Will it be Gertrude and Vanessa? Lily and Kelly? Or Scarlett and Rosa?"

"How would we know?" Sam snarked as he stood next to Don.

"...Get back in line," Don muttered.

"Is there a reason you're not helping?" Kelly asked, turning back towards Lily, who was knitting while they were in the water, "Gertrude and Vanessa just passed us!"

"We've caught our steam now!" Lily heard Gertrude shout, "Ain't that right, dearie?"

"Fourteenth place here we come!" Vanessa shouted back as they landed on the shore, "...Of course, that doesn't seem like the _best_ placement, but…"

Lily turned back to Kelly to answer her question and said, "I suddenly had inspiration for an alligator themed piece blanket. Once I'm finished I'll- Ow!"

Kelly widened her eyes when Lily, in her inattentiveness, accidentally stabbed herself _hard_ with a large needle. Blood dripped down Lily's hand as she grimaced in pain.

"On second thought… I will help you," Lily finally admitted, deciding to place her hand in the water to get some of the blood off of her hand, then quickly withdrawing her hand when an alligator snapped at it.

The two girls rowed on, as Rosa and Scarlett were right behind them…

...rowing over where the blood flowed.

"Uh, Scarlett?" Rosa asked, as she heard a low rumbling, "Did you hear that?"

"...Yes," Scarlett was suddenly extremely anxious. She hadn't seen any alligators for a few moments, and that never meant a good thing, if a show like Ridonculous Race had anything to say about it.

And she hated when she was right. Suddenly, an alligator crashed through the bottom of their canoe, splitting it cleanly in two. Both girls let out a scream as they were suddenly divided between the two halves, Scarlett sitting on the front half and Rosa standing in the back half.

Scarlett pursed her lips before whacking the alligator on the head and driving it off. Upon closer inspection, she noticed blood in the water and gulped.

"You have to jump," she told Rosa.

Rosa shook her head.

"I didn't ask you if you wanted to," the genius snapped, "You _have_ to jump, Rosa!"

"I can't; I'm weak!" Rosa shouted back, "All that I've done this entire competition is pawed all over people because of something I can't help and I haven't even improved! What am I supposed to do?"

"You're supposed to trust your teammate!" Scarlett answered her, "Trust me that you're probably stronger than you look!"

Rosa frowned before closing her eyes tight. If she stayed on her side of the split canoe, she would definitely end up as alligator food.

So she jumped…

...And landed on Scarlett's side of the boat.

"See?" the evil scientist asked, smirking slightly, "You're _much_ stronger than you think."

Rosa was quiet for a moment before nodding, "Yeah… Yeah! I _am_ stronger than I look! I'm more than just a pretty face!"

"We can celebrate later," Scarlett replied, shaking her head, "We have to catch up to Kelly and Lily or this is over."

As the two rowed in just half a canoe, Kelly pointed towards them, "Uh! Their canoe split!"

"What?" Lily asked, looking back, "How did- Nevermind. They look safe. We should keep rowing."

"Are you sure?" Kelly asked, wanting to see if they could turn back and help them out.

"Positive," Lily gripped Kelly's shoulder, "Keep rowing."

The race was on. Or at least for all practical purposes it was. Despite all the effort that Rosa and Scarlett were putting in, they were ultimately screwed by their destroyed canoe. With that, the fifteenth team had arrived on shore.

"Kelly and Lily," Don spoke to the cheerleader and Native American girl, "You two have come in fifteenth place. You are safe."

"Y-E-S!" Kelly spelled out, jumping up and down. Lily just gave a relieved, happy smile in response.

Finally, Rosa and Scarlett came on shore, both knowing the news. Don spoke to them, "Rosa and Scarlett? You two came in sixteenth place. Because of this, you are eliminated from the competition. I'm sorry."

* * *

 **Last Words: Rosa.**

"I may have lost," Rosa spoke to the confessional cam, "But Scarlett's right. I'm stronger than my flaws. _Much_ stronger than my flaws. My flaws will always be a part of me, but this competition? It showed me that my flaws don't matter. It's the true strength inside my heart that matters."

* * *

 **Last Words: Scarlett.**

"Yes, it's nice and all that Rosa was able to become greater than she thought she was," Scarlett said, taking the hairband out of her bun and effectively reverting to her true, crueller self, " _But I was eliminated third?!_ I should have won! This was my chance to win the million dollars! But if this is what you guys want, then I'll _steal_ the million-"

Suddenly, Scarlett was shot in the arm by a tranquilizer gun by an intern, causing her to slump against the side of the wall of the confessional and fall asleep. The intern called back to Don, "Got her!"

"Good!" Don called back.

* * *

As Don watched Rosa and the intern that was carrying Rosa head out, he turned towards the camera, "Another two contestants down. We're now down to the dirty thirty. Our game just got kicked up a level. What will happen next time? Find out right here! On… The Ridonculous Race: Stranger Shuffle!"

The camera went to static and the credits began to roll, however, after the credits, one last confessional was shown.

* * *

 **Solo Confessional: Lily.**

Lily was seen sitting in the confessional, her hand currently bandaged from where she stabbed herself, "It caused me some pain… But I was able to do a pretty subtle sabotage. I don't care if Don sees this before the next episode. Scarlett could have been a threat. So I did everyone a favor by calculating how much to stab myself to cause the blood to be recognized by the alligators."

Her usual smile graced her face, but it took an antagonistic tone, "After all… This is just the calm before the storm."

With that, the confessional went to static, finally ending the episode.

* * *

 **Episode 4 Race Rankings:**

1st- Melissa and Lexi

2nd- Markus and Tai

3rd- Isadora and Kayla

4th- Ash and Jackie

5th- Sam and Shakir

6th- Charlotte and Brady

7th- Josh and Mitch

8th- Naoya and Junior

9th- Rebecca and Davis

10th- Jake and Rosalina

11th- Danielle and Xavier

12th- Blaine and Victor

13th- Ethan and Brooke

14th- Lily and Kelly

15th- Gertrude and Vanessa

16th- Scarlett and Rosa (Eliminated)

 **Remaining contestants** : Ash, Blaine, Brady, Brooke, Charlotte, Danielle, Davis, Ethan, Gertrude, Isadora, Jackie, Jake, Josh, Junior, Kayla, Kelly, Lexi, Lily, Markus, Melissa, Mitch, Naoya, Rebecca, Rosalina, Sam, Shakir, Tai, Vanessa, Victor, and Xavier.

 **Eliminated contestants** : Helen and Justin, Liam and James, Rosa and Scarlett.

* * *

 **And thus, Rosa and Scarlett are eliminated. I really did like Rosa, and while she still has her unintentionally seducing ways, she also learned that was just part of her and that she was really strong. So, at least she got some development. Plus, of course, she has a chance to return later in the season.**

 **Scarlett, however, was planned to be eliminated in some way by Lily for since I started episode one. I thought it would be a good way to officially put Lily on the map against Brady as an antagonist (same with Victor, but he's more of an anti-villain if you ask me; annoying but not constantly villainous.)**

 **While I still want to hear as much thoughts on this episode as usual, I actually have an OC question for you guys to fill out at the bottom of your next reviews too, if you would!**

 **The questions are...**

 **Would your contestant end up in an alliance with another contestant(s)?:**

 **If so, which contestants could you see them allying with?:**

* * *

 **Next Episode:** Dancing All Night


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